![]() | Fort StevensMilitary Sites |
Guide to Military Sites at Fort Stevens State Park (SP) in Oregon. Published by Oregon State Parks and Recreation.
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covered parks
ty
Visitor Center
Displays and photographs provide insights to
what the fort looked like when it was an active
military post.
Hours: October – April, 10am – 4pm
May – September, 10am – 6pm
Hammond
Drive
ge R
o
Battery
Russell
Rid
Pacific
Ocean
ad
Pacific
Support Fort Stevens
Originally built in 1864 toward the end of the Civil
War, Fort Stevens stayed active through the SpanishAmerican war and World War II. All but one of
the fort’s nine concrete batteries were constructed
between 1897 and 1904.
Day-use area
entrance
Campround
entrance
Peter Iredale
Shipwreck
Shortly after World War II, the Army demolished
many of the buildings and closed Fort Stevens.
Although the guns have been removed, their
concrete emplacements remain. Today, Oregon
State Parks preserves these remnants of early
20th-century U.S. military history.
Road
Coffenbury
Lake
e
Ridg
Friends of Old Fort Stevens sponsors tours
of the Historic Area and has been actively
involved in reconstructing the earthworks, Civil
War era-cannons, and various other projects.
Information: visitftstevens.com.
Fort Stevens may be a peaceful
park today, but it was once an
active military base and the target
of a surprise Japanese naval attack
during World War II.
d
Check the Visitor Center for a schedule of
guided tours. The guardhouse is open to the
public during the summer on a limited schedule.
HISTORIC MILITARY SITES
Historic
Area
a
Ro
tty
Je
Guided Tours
Columbia
River
Trestle
Bay
Fort Stevens
State Park
sion.
Jet
Ready, aim, fire! Soldiers
practice firing from
Battery Russell.
rights reserved. Rep
rinted with permis
So
uth
Fort Stevens
State Park
Clatsop Spit
©The Oregonian.
All
EXPAND YOUR
KNOWLEDGE
Civil War Rodman Cannon
Eight batteries were built along the Columbia River,
in today’s Historic Area. The ninth, Battery Russell,
was emplaced about a mile southwest of the main
fort, facing the ocean. This brochure serves as a selfguided tour of the Historic Area and Battery Russell.
STEVENS
stateparks.oregon.gov
800-551-6949
This June 23, 1942 article
documents the Fort Stevens attack.
EXPLORING
BATTERY RUSSELL
Built in 1904, Battery Russell was a later addition
to the large military installation at Fort Stevens. It
was built south of the other batteries, facing the
ocean, to expand the fort’s network of artillery.
Each of Battery Russel’s two 10-inch riffles was
manned by a team of 35 men. A well-trained gun
crew could fire a 617-pound shell up to 8 miles
away, once per minute.
Battery Russell.
Printed on Recycled Paper
All information or fees subject to change without notice. This
brochure is available in alternative formats upon request. Call
1-800-551-6949. Oregon Relay for the hearing impaired: dial 711.
Fire Control Hill
and Squirrelville
All told, approximately nine shells were fired at
Fort Stevens. A monument now marks the site
where one of the shells landed along DeLaura
Beach Lane, creating a 5-foot crater. Although
there were no casualties, and the shelling caused
minimal damage to property, it alarmed local
residents about the possibility of further attacks
or even an invasion.
The dunes south of Battery Russell
marked the highest point at Fort
Stevens, with a clear view of the
ocean and the river. Thus, this
was the perfect location to scan
the battlefield for enemy vessels.
Called Fire Control Hill, this is
where orders were coordinated for
all guns at Fort Stevens as well as
Washington’s Fort Canby and Fort
Columbia.
Throughout the 1930s, Battery
Russell was the practice battery for
the 249th Coast Artillery Regiment
Photo ofthe 2nd Coast Artillery unit from Coos Bay that became part of
with the Oregon National Guard.
the 249th Coast Artillery Corps of the Oregon National Guard.
Only after Japan attacked Pearl
why the order was given—we can only speculate.
Harbor on December 7, 1941 was Battery Russell
Perhaps those on Fire Control Hill thought the
manned on a regular basis. Because it was about
sub was beyond the reach of the guns, or the
a mile from the main fort, primitive housing
harbor defense commander may have wanted to
was hastily constructed for the gun crews in the
avoid revealing the precise location of the fort
wooded area behind the dune. This area was
and the extent of its arsenal.
known as “Squirrelville” to the soldiers who were
rotated in and out every two weeks.
Fortunately, most of the I-25’s shells landed
Attack!
At about 11:30 p.m. on the night of June 21, 1942,
an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine surfaced
just south of Fort Stevens and began firing shells
in the direction of the fort.
Soldiers scrambled out of bed and raced to their
posts. They located the submarine by its gun
flashes, but were told to hold fire. It’s unclear
A photograph of the
I-15, a submarine
from the same class
as the I-25.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Aftermath
harmlessly in isolated swamp and beach areas,
although several did hit near Battery Russell.
A regional newspaper at the time said that
the sub “peppered the Fort Stevens area…
for approximately sixteen minutes” before
it ceased firing, submerged, and retreated
beneath the waves.
The attack marked the only wartime action
at Fort Stevens. The incident also took on
heightened historical significance: it became the
first U.S. mainland military base to be fired upon
by a foreign power since the War of 1812. It still
holds that distinction.
Harbor Defenses of the Columbia River: The U.S.
Army built three forts to guard the entrance to the
Columbia River: Fort Stevens, and Washington’s
Fort Canby and Fort Columbia. Fort Stevens served
as headquarters, from which the U.S. Army Coast
Artillery Corps coordinated all military actions at the
three forts.
A crater resulting from the shelling. Courtesy of
National Archives.
Battery Russell Today
After 40 years of protecting the harbor, Battery
Russell fired its last shells on December 1944
in a closing ceremony as it was replaced by the
more modern Battery 245 to the northeast. That
shot also marked the last time that type of rifle
was fired in the U.S.
Today Battery Russell is home to the Pacific
Rim Peace Memorial, which is dedicated to
the American and Japanese soldiers who were
involved in the shelling of Fort Stevens and
which calls for an everlasting peace between
their two countries.
Soldiers used telescopes to survey the sea for enemy
targets. They would phone the coordinates to the
gun battery’s plotting room.
The guns at Battery
Russell fired 10"
diameter shells
that weighed
approximately 620
pounds.
Gun battery: One or more artillery weapons — such
as cannons and missiles — fixed on mounts or carriages and often grouped together for strategic
defense. These weapons could be moved for aiming,
but were otherwise anchored in place. Fort Stevens
has nine batteries.
Disappearing carriages: From the 1890s through
1904, guns were mounted on a disappearing carriage
that raised the gun above the parapet for firing, then
retracted into the gun pit to provide cover while
soldiers reloaded. Most coast artillery emplacements
used a barbette or pedestal mount after 1904
through WWII.
Parapet: A protective wall.
Mortars: Artillery that fires in a high arc; could be
either smoothbore or rifled.
Fire Control System: A strategy for predicting an
enemy’s future location in order to hit a moving
target. Usually spotters gathered coordinates and
relayed them to a central location, where a team
used conversion charts and slide-rules to plot enemy
location, direction of travel, and speed on large maps.
Casemate: A subterraneous or covered location that
provides protection from artillery or bombs.
FORT STEVENS STATE HISTORICAL SITE
8 Forts Columbia and Canby
3 West Batteries (1896)
A self-guided walking tour of the
Historic Area begins at the Visitor
Center and takes you on a loop through
the grounds. The tour is divided into two
segments, each taking about 1.5 hours.
The West Batteries were the first concrete
emplacements to be installed at Fort Stevens, during
the Spanish-American war. They featured the latest
technology: six 10-inch rifles, each positioned on a
disappearing carriage. The West Batteries contained
Battery Mishler, Battery Lewis, and Battery Walker.
4 Battery Mishler (1898)
Battery Mishler was an open battery until it was covered
in concrete during WWII.
This emplacement was originally an open battery
like the West Batteries. But its unique guns made it a
rarity in coast artillery design. It featured All Around
Fire (A.R.F.) guns, named for their 360° movement
capability that allowed firing in any direction. The
only similar emplacement in the U.S. was on the
Texas coast.
Battery Mishler was only in operation for about 18
years. At the start of World War II, the Army covered
the two gun pits. With its maze of tunnels, cave-like
chambers, and thick concrete walls, it was the ideal
joint command center for the three forts.
Check the Visitor Center for a schedule of guided
tours during the summer.
1 War Games Building (1911)
Today’s Visitor Center was once the war games
building, where artillerymen regularly practiced
mock battles on a large, lighted table map of the
harbor in preparation for a real attack.
2 Battery Pratt (1900)
Built after the Spanish-American war, this battery
remained active until 1943. Armed with two 6-inch
rifles on disappearing carriages, Battery Pratt was
designed to protect the submarine mines in the river,
and to stop enemy ships from going up the Columbia
River. The gun you see today is a replica of the
6-inch rifles that were once mounted here.
5 Parados (1896)
The French-named and designed parados refers
to the manmade embankment of earth at the rear
of the west batteries, built to protect soldiers from
an enemy approaching from the rear. The Army
installed a railroad trestle to transport building
materials.
6 Battery 245 (1944)
The last battery to be emplaced, Battery 245
featured the modern “200 series” of gun batteries
that used radar to improve accuracy in foul
weather and fog. These new guns could fire 9
to 15 miles away. Battery 245 came into service
in December 1944, just as the outmoded Battery
Russell fired its last round.
To continue, follow the Jetty Trail
down the slope toward the river.
7 Machine Gun Emplacements
This enclosed concrete machine gun emplacement
was one of six spaced widely along the beach and
Columbia River. These short-range guns guarded
the shoreline, should enemies land on shore.
Soldiers reloading a 10" disappearing rifle from behind the parapet, or wall, of Battery Russell.
Machine Gun
Emplacement
7
Fort Stevens State Historical Site
Viewpoint for
Forts Columbia
and Canby
Jetty Trestle
8
9
J e t t y Tra i l
Co
Battery
Mishler
6
West
Batteries
4
3
Battery
245
5
Parados
Battery
Pratt
2
mb
ia
Ri
ve
r
Parrott Rifle
10
at Battery Clatsop
Scott
Village site
1
ty
Tra
i
l
Earthworks/
Battery Freeman
12
Visitor
Center
13 Mine
Casemate
14 Battery
Smur
15
Barracks
2
12
ADA parking
21
ADA restroom
Battery Clark
Commander’s
Station
3
Indicates footprint of
former structures
Disc golf course
14
Central
Power Plant
4
17
16
19 Battery
Clark
19
Guardhouse
Pacific D
r
ive
To Battery Russell
17
e
riv
cD
ifi
20
10 Clatsop Village
This is the approximate site of a Clatsop Indian
village known as Neahkeluk, which translates into
“place where salmon pemmican was made.” It was
the largest village in the area, used as a summer
base camp for fishing and trading. During the latter
part of the Civil War when the government began
constructing Fort Stevens earthworks, the indigenous
people who still lived in the area were forced to move.
11 Parrott Rifle at Battery Scott
This is a replica of the infamous Civil War-era Parrott
Rifle. Five of these guns were mounted on the Fort
Stevens earthworks. The borehole of the Parrott
Rifle’s gun barrel featured spiral grooves, as opposed
to Rodman cannon’s smooth bore. This construction
put a “spin” on an elongated shell. Unfortunately,
the gun tubes often burst, seriously wounding or
killing gunners.
Fort Stevens began as an open, earthen fort known as
an earthworks, the only installation of its type on the
West Coast. The nine-sided earthworks contained 26
guns, including seventeen massive Rodman cannons,
considered the most powerful weapons of their day.
At the turn of the century, the Army installed Battery
Freeman, a concrete battery inside the original
earthworks, armed with safer, more accurate guns.
During World War II, the Army leveled the battery
to create a parade ground. The Friends of Old Fort
Stevens organized and sponsored the reconstruction
of the earthworks between 1989-91.
13 Mine Casemate (1898)
The mine casemate first served as the control center
for the fort’s submarine mine field, designed to
prevent enemy ships from entering U.S. territory.
The
SeaFarer’s
Park
Army converted the casemate to a radio transmitter
during World War II, when it moved the minefield
closer to the mouth of the river. Fort Columbia
controlled the new minefield; Fort Stevens stored
all supplies and was in charge of planting and
maintaining the mines. The two forts planted only
one minefield, but no enemy vessel entered the river
to challenge it.
This battery was designed to protect submarine mine
operations in the Columbia River with its two 3-inch
rapid fire guns. Gunners could fire 12 rounds per
minute. Gun 1 features a real 3-inch gun tube from a
coast artillery fort in Virginia.
9 Jetty Trestle and Clatsop Spit.
c
Pa
6
Artillery
Engineers’
Building
r
HAMMOND
12
D
sell
Rus
5
18
The Earthworks was accessible from
a guarded sallyport.
None of the buildings remain, but this area once
hummed with activity. Prior to World War II it was a
field used for drills and sports activities. As war clouds
gathered, the Army hastily assembled the barracks,
never intending them to be permanent structures. The
foundation remnants you see were for the boiler room
and the restrooms. The two-story barracks housed up
to 65 men.
The trestles before you are from a railroad built for
constructing the South Jetty in the 1880s. Workmen
used the railroad to transport tons of rocks to the
mouth of the river. The jetties on either side of the
Columbia stabilized and deepened the river channel,
making it safer for ships to pass. The South Jetty
also trapped sand as it washed seaward, moving the
shoreline about a mile further out to sea and creating
Clatsop Spit.
The Army used the railroad again during World War
II to transport gun crews to the gun emplacements
that were hurriedly installed at the South Jetty after
the attack on Pearl Harbor.
14 Battery Smur (1902)
Switchboard
Room and
Test Tanks
20
15 World War II Barracks
9 Jetty Trestle and Clatsop Spit
12 Original Earthworks (1863) and Battery
Freeman (1902)
Jet
11
War
Games
lu
From 1898-1947, Fort Stevens served as a
headquarters for the three forts comprising the
Harbor Defenses of the Columbia River, which
also included Washington’s Fort Canby and Fort
Columbia. Together, the three forts formed a military
strategy known as a “triangle of fire” overseen by the
U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps.
On a clear day, Fort Columbia’s cluster of structures
can be seen on the hillside across the river. Fort
Canby is part of Washington’s Cape Disappointment
State Park. Its location is marked by Cape
Disappointment Lighthouse at the river’s mouth.
To continue this leg of the walking
tour, return to the MINE CASEMATE
and follow the map.
World War II Barracks
16 Switchboard Room and Test Tanks (1922)
This bomb- and gas-proof building was the center
of all communications for The Harbor Defenses of
the Columbia River. A large switchboard transmitted
messages via a network of armored cables connecting
the forts on both sides of the river.
The structures in front of this building held
water tanks used to test electrical cable for the
submarine mines.
17 Guardhouse
The guardhouse was the center of activity for the
fort. Guards gathered here to report for duty and take
orders. It also had a cell block for errant soldiers.
Assaults, theft, drunkenness, and desertion were the
most common offenses — and were notably more
frequent after payday. Punishment at times included
unpleasant daytime duties under escort.
18 Artillery Engineers’ Building
Artillery engineers and staff calculated a rifle’s range,
or field of fire. They had to consider atmospheric
pressure, wind speed, tide levels, and temperature
— all of which could affect the speed and range of
artillery shells. This information was then posted on
large maps in each battery’s plotting room.
19 Battery Clark (1899)
This was the only mortar battery at Fort Stevens. At the
time, mortars were considered the most lethal weapon
in harbor defense. These stubby weapons fired shells
in a high arc, shot gun style, with a goal of landing
squarely on the deck of an enemy ship. Battery Clark
was inactivated in late 1942; by then mortar fire was
already too slow to reach the faster moving ships of
World War II.
20 Central Power Plant
This facility powered most of the fort with steampowered engines that turned electrical generators.
The plant operated from 1911 to 1921, when the fort
connected to commercial power.
21 Battery Clark Command Station
This six-story observation station served as
command post and base end station for Battery
Clark. Several range-finding instruments were
located on the top floor. Observers shared
information on enemy ship movements with
the gun crews of Battery Clark. This helped the
gunners fire more accurately.