Battery 242

 (1944-1948) - A World War II era gun battery completed in 1944 as a reinforced concrete coastal artillery battery on the Bolsa Chica Military Reservation of Fort MacArthur. The battery was located on a bluff above Sunset Beach in Orange County, California. Construction began 17 Apr 1943 and was completed sometime in 1944. Named Battery Harry J. Harrison in G.O. #51, 10 Jun 1946, after Major Harry J. Harrison, Coast Artillery Corps, who served at Fort MacArthur and who was killed in Europe in 1944. Decommissioned in 1948.

History
Part of the Harbor Defenses of Los Angeles.

Battery 242 was a battery of two, 6", T2-M1 rapid fire Barbette mounted guns on either side of an earth covered reinforced concrete support structure. Guns and carriages installed and proof fired in 1944. Decommissioned and the armament scrapped in 1948.



Current Status
Battery concrete structure destroyed in 1993 to make way for a housing development. The original site is covered by homes and roads.

Sources:
 * Berhow, Mark, A Brief History of the Bolsa Chica Military Resewation 1941-1948 (pdf), The Coast Defense Study Group Journal, February 1995, page 60-63

Links: 
 * Fort MacArthur Museum - Battery 242