East Point Military Reservation
| East Point Military Reservation | |
|---|---|
| Part of Harbor Defenses of Boston | |
| Nahant, Massachusetts | |
 East Point Military Reservation
Location in Massachusetts
|
|
| Coordinates | 42°25′11.98″N 70°54′35.85″W / 42.4199944°N 70.9099583°WCoordinates: 42°25′11.98″N 70°54′35.85″W / 42.4199944°N 70.9099583°W |
| Type | Coastal Defense |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Massachusetts |
| Controlled by | United States Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1917 |
| Built by | United States Army |
| In use | 1917–62 |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II Cold War |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Nahant, Massachusetts |
East Point Military Reservation was a World War I and World War II coastal defense site located in Nahant, Massachusetts. In 1955–62 it was a Nike missile launch site. As of 2016 most of the site is the Marine Science Center of Northeastern University.
The East Point Military Reservation was originally acquired by the US Army from the Lodge family in 1917. It originally consisted of a searchlight and an observation post. The site was planned to be named Fort Henry Cabot Lodge for the prominent senator on whose land part of the facility was built, but this was never acted upon.
The site today consists of towers, the foundations of buildings, and bunkers formerly for guns and ammunition.
The East Point Batteries, located in Nahant, Massachusetts, were part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston during World War II. Three separate gun batteries were built: Battery Murphy (two 16-inch guns), Battery 206 (two 6-inch guns), and a temporary 2-gun battery of 155 mm artillery. Along with these guns were three related fire control towers: two on Swallow Cave Rd. and one on Nahant Rd., plus a large underground plotting room behind Battery Murphy that served that battery's two big guns. Also, the northern series of Navy-operated magnetic loop cables, emplaced to detect enemy vessels (particularly U-boats) approaching Boston Harbor, terminated on the shore just southeast of the two 155mm gun positions. All of these facilities were located in the area called East Point, at the extreme southeast end of the Nahant tombolo, as shown in the map at left. After 1943, these guns, together with the two 12-inch guns of Battery Gardner at Fort Ruckman, made Nahant the most heavily armed portion of Boston's coast defenses.
Battery Murphy was one of a series of 16-inch gun emplacements that were installed near U.S. harbors before and during World War II. Construction on this battery commenced on 23 January 1942 and was completed just under two years later, on 18 December 1943. The guns were 16-inch Navy MkIIMI guns on M4 barbette carriages with a range of 45,150 yards (41,290 m). The guns were housed in casemates, part of a large bunker for magazines and fire control equipment.
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