The Construction of Fort Miles

The Construction of Fort Miles (HMQK0)

Location: Cape May, NJ 08204 Cape May County
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 56.617', W 74° 58.004'

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Inscription
As war clouds gathered in the late 1930s, the Army started building massive fortifications at the entrance to the Delaware River and Bay. Called Fort Miles, the main batteries and headquarters were at Cape Henlopen, Delaware, near the main shipping channel, while a supporting battery and lookout towers were located on the Cape May side of the Bay.

Fort Miles' charge was the protection of the highly strategic industrial centers along this waterway, including the DuPont munitions and chemical plants in Wilmington, oil refineries in Chester and shipyards in Philadelphia and Camden. Following a nationwide Harbor Defense Modernization plan, the Army Corps of Engineers began pouring the eleven-foot thick concrete emplacements for a pair of 16-inch guns in 1940. These guns (similar to those on the Battleship New Jersey) were to be the primary weapons of the fortification. The plan also called for the five additional batteries, including a 12-inch battery, two 6-inch support batteries and a 6-inch battery on the Cape May side. Together, these guns sealed off our region from enemy invasion. In addition to the land-based protection, Fort Miles also had minefields, patrol boats and airplanes to protect the Delaware River and Bay.
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HM NumberHMQK0
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Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, October 6th, 2014 at 8:05pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 502882 N 4310520
Decimal Degrees38.94361667, -74.96673333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 56.617', W 74° 58.004'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 56' 37.02" N, 74° 58' 0.24" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)609
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 536 Sunset Blvd, Cape May NJ 08204, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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