Fort Pickens WWII Radar Site (2)

 (1943-1946) - A World War II U.S. Army Radar Site established in 1943. Used to provide fire control information to large caliber (6" and above) coastal gun batteries in the Harbor Defense of Pensacola against enemy warships. Located at Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island across from Pensacola in Escambia County, Florida. Closed in 1946.

History
Constructed and transferred for use on 27 Jul 1943 at Fort Pickens. Construction costs to date of transfer were $ 12,700. The physical plant consisted of a transmitter building, two powerhouses each with a 1000 gallon fuel tank, a 100' steel tower and an antenna housing disguised as a water tank atop the tower. The three buildings and the tower were prefabricated steel units furnished by the Signal Corps. The buildings and the tower were placed on concrete pads and footings installed by the Corps of Engineers who erected all of the structures. Access to the antenna on top of the tower was by a small hoist operated by an electric motor.

The radar equipment was installed by the Signal Corps. It required 16.3kW of 120/240 AC, 1 phase, 60 cycle power furnished by commercial power backed up by the two on-site generators. The two 25 kW generators were furnished and installed by the Signal Corps.

Site Operation
The Radar track data was provided by telephone to support Battery Langdon as the primary battery and to secondary batteries including Battery 234 also on Fort Pickens and Battery 233 on Fort McRee. Battery Langdon was a casemated 12" gun battery located 400 yards southeast of the radar site.

Closure
Closed in 1946. The SCR-296-A Radar equipment was declared obsolete by AG letter on 17 Jan 1946. The Tower and radar equipment were to be disposed of while the buildings were to be retained.

Current Status
The foundations of all three buildings remain as well as all four of the concrete antenna support piers. This site is easily reached from the Battery Langdon parking lot by traveling northwest on the unpaved road in back of Battery Langdon. The site is not marked so you must rely on the GPS coordinates to get you to the right spot. Warning, there are a number of tower foundations along this road and other building foundations so do not jump to any conclusions unless the site is at the listed coordinates and the building patterns match the drawing above.

See Also:
 * Fort Pickens WWII Radar Site (1)
 * Fort Pickens WWII Radar Site (3)
 * Fort Pickens
 * Battery Langdon
 * US Radar Sets
 * SCR-296-A Radar Set
 * Gulf Coast WWII Radar Sites

Sources:

Links:
 * RCW-Corrected to 1 Jan 1944, CDSG.