Fort Banks (Massachusetts)

Fort Banks
Part of Harbor Defenses of Boston
Winthrop, Massachusetts
The fort as it appeared c. 1940
Fort Banks Location in Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′03″N 70°58′49″W / 42.38417°N 70.98028°W / 42.38417; -70.98028Coordinates: 42°23′03″N 70°58′49″W / 42.38417°N 70.98028°W / 42.38417; -70.98028
Site information
Owner	Massachusetts
Controlled by	Town of Winthrop
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	partly buried
Site history
Built	1890s
Built by	United States Army
In use	1890s-1947
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Cold War

Fort Banks was a U.S. Coast Artillery fort located in Winthrop, Massachusetts. It served to defend Boston Harbor from enemy attack from the sea and was built in the 1890s during what is known as the Endicott period, a time in which the coast defenses of the United States were seriously expanded and upgraded with new technology. Today, the Fort Banks Mortar Battery is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The fort was active during World War II as the site of the Harbor Defense Command Post (HDCP) for the Harbor Defenses of Boston, and was greatly expanded with numerous temporary structures (see 1938 map at top left). Because of its campus-like appearance and the fact that it was located on land, close of Boston, the fort was known as "The Country Club" by Coast Artillery soldiers pleased to be posted there. Fort Banks was named for Nathaniel P. Banks, a Civil War general, the 24th Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1892 construction began on the fort's four mortar pits, each of which was to hold four of the huge, new 12-inch coast defense mortars, each capable of firing a half-ton projectile over six miles out to sea, effectively commanding the northern approaches into Boston Harbor. Construction on the mortar emplacements was completed in 1896, making this the oldest Endicott period fort in Boston's harbor defenses. The two eastern mortar pits were designated as Battery Sanford Kellogg and the two western ones as Battery Benjamin Lincoln, making these the first Endicott gun batteries to be completed in Boston and the first 12-inch coast defense mortar batteries to be completed anywhere in the U.S. The mortars were taken out of service in 1942, and in 2007 the fort was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The four mortar pits were laid out in a design known as an "Abbot Quad," which contained the 16 mortars in a sort of "square-of squares." This arrangement was designed such that if all the tubes were aimed in parallel and fired at the same time, in a huge salvo, they would bracket an attacking ship with fire, somewhat like a huge shotgun blast. Since each shell could weigh over half a ton, a 16-mortar salvo of over 8 tons of steel and explosives was hoped to be a decisive deterrent to ships approaching the northern channels into Boston Harbor. In fact, the Army had planned to build two 16-gun Abbot Quad arrays at Fort Banks, but ran out of budget before being able to complete that project.