Battery Caswell

 (1899-1926) - Battery Caswell was a reinforced concrete, Endicott Period 12 inch coastal gun battery on Fort Caswell, Brunswick County, North Carolina. The battery was named in G.O. 134, 1899 after Col. Richard Caswell, first Governor of North Carolina and Revolutionary War veteran. Battery construction started in Apr 1898, was completed in Feb 1899 and transferred to the Coast Artillery for use 22 May 1899 at a cost of $ 125,993.19. Guns removed in 1926.

Endicott Period (1890-1910)
Originally built as an Endicott Period concrete coastal gun battery with two 12" M1888MII guns mounted on M1892 Barbette carriages. The battery also contained an emplacement for a single 4.72" rapid fire gun, this emplacement was later renamed Battery Mason (1). Battery Caswell was built into the structure of the old Fort Caswell and as a result, much of the old fort was destroyed. The battery was a two-story battery with the guns on the upper level and the magazines and support rooms on the lower level. The weight of the 12" shells required shell hoists to raise them from the lower level to the loading platform. Two Taylor-Raymond back delivery electric motor driven shell hoists were installed in 1907 replacing the earlier mechanical hoists. Electricity was originally supplied to the battery from a storage battery installed near the central plant and later from an electric plant located in the battery.



World War I (1917-1918)
Battery Caswell's guns were not affected by the World War I redistribution. On 22 Jun 1926, both guns were transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground and the carriages were abandoned at Fort Caswell 30 Aug 1926. In 1937-38 the 12" gun emplacements in Battery Caswell were sealed and walls built along the open back side of the gun platform to totally enclose the gun platform. These enclosed areas became swimming pools filled with 92-degree mineral water from artesian wells that had been drilled and abandoned 30 years earlier. This was a part of the attempt to make the abandoned fort property into a resort property and the mineral hot springs became quite popular. These pools were in use as late as 1968.

Current Status
On the property of the North Carolina Baptist Assembly. No period guns or mounts in place.

Recent Blog Posts: Sources:
 * USForting.com - Fort Caswell
 * Herring, Ethel and Williams, Carolee, Fort Caswell in War and Peace, 2nd Ed., NC Baptist Assembly, Oak Island, NC, 1983-1999, ISBN - 0-9671897-1-3, page 62-63, 91, 106

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