Salisbury Beach Base-End Station and Gun Battery - Location 137 B
no photograph
A two and one-half story wooden cottage and three story concrete tower was completed in October 1943 on a leased 0.65 acre site (Site 1A) as a Base-End Station for Fort Dearborn (B4 S4 for Battery 103/Seaman, AAIS OP 3, and a Fire-Control Switchboard room). It was located north of the present-day state park in a residential strip along the beach. The station was actually located on the beach in front of the existing line of beach houses, between Lots #44 - #50, with the right-of-way going through Lot #44 (as per 1945 map). The design was identical to the stations at Bald Head Cliff and Moody Point, Maine. After the war, the station was used by the local police force as a base for beach patrols. It was destroyed by a hurricane in 1958.
Located on Central Avenue at Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts.
A temporary battery of four 155mm guns, Model 1918M1, serials 818, 953, 220, 1069 (Minneapolis Steel and Machine Co.), on tractor-drawn carriages, Model 1918M1, serials 474, 412, 729, 79 (Minneapolis Steel and Machine Co.), was emplaced on concrete "Panama mounts" at Salisbury Beach State Reservation (Site 1B), completed in May 1942. This battery was under the umbrella of the Boston Harbor Defense Command, and was manned by Battery B, 241st Coast Artillery Regiment (Harbor Defense), Massachusetts National Guard beginning in September 1941. Two of the guns (serials 953, 1069) were removed in September 1943. A barracks, mess hall, HQ building, and latrine were built behind the gun position, located near the present-day bathhouse. A small wooden tower Battery Commander's Station was also built. Other than the remains of the Panama mounts, there are no visible remains of any military structures.
Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 241st Coast Artillery Regiment.
photo courtesy of Gerald Butler, Coast Defense Study Group
A 155mm gun on a "Panama mount" at Salisbury Beach, circa 1944.The crew is hosing down the sand prior to firing the gun.
The central hub of one of the remaining "Panama mounts" (either #1 or #4) at Salisbury Beach.
The other remaining mount could not be located. Mounts #2 and #3 were built about 35 feet from the then-shoreline, and are now probably buried deep beneath the surf.
Located at Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts.
Salisbury Beach State Reservation
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