Fort Foster (Kittery, Maine)
| Fort Foster Park | |
| Town park | |
 10-inch (254 mm) disappearing gun at Fort Casey, Washington, similar to those formerly mounted at Fort Foster
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| Country |  United States |
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| State |  Maine |
| County | York |
| Town | Kittery |
| Location | Gerrish Island, Kittery Point, Maine |
| - coordinates | 43°04′03″N 70°41′29″W / 43.06750°N 70.69139°WCoordinates: 43°04′03″N 70°41′29″W / 43.06750°N 70.69139°W |
| Area | 88 acres (36 ha) |
  Location in Maine
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| Website: Fort Foster Park on Facebook | |
Fort Foster, now part of Fort Foster Park, is a historic fort active 1901-1946 on the southwest tip of Gerrish Island in the Kittery Point area of Kittery, Maine. The park includes beaches and trails. Battery Bohlen and Battery Chapin were the major parts of the fort.
The land was acquired by the U.S. federal government in 1872 and the fort was built from 1898 to 1901 as part of the large-scale Endicott Program. Other forts of this era in the Coast Defenses of Portsmouth included Fort Constitution and Fort Stark. The site was a sub-post of Fort Constitution and was named for American Civil War-era Brevet Major General John G. Foster of New Hampshire.
Fort Foster originally had two gun batteries: Battery Bohlen with three 10-inch (254 mm) M1895 disappearing guns and Battery Chapin with two 3-inch (76 mm) M1902 guns on pedestal mounts. Battery Bohlen was built in 1898-1901 and Battery Chapin was completed in 1904. Battery Bohlen was named for Brigadier General Henry Bohlen, killed in the Civil War, and Battery Chapin was named for Brigadier General Edward Chapin, also killed in the Civil War. In 1909 a secondary control station for an underwater minefield in the harbor was added; Battery Chapin was built primarily to defend this minefield against minesweepers.
After the American entry into World War I in early 1917, many guns were removed from coast defenses for potential service on the Western Front. Most of these weapons were not sent overseas or did not see action. All three 10-inch (254 mm) guns of Battery Bohlen were removed for potential use as railway artillery in October 1917, and were returned to the fort in September 1919.
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Wikipedia