World War II Defenses

After the United States entered World War II in December 1941, U.S. Coast Artillery troops occupied Fort Macon State Park to defend strategic points in the Beaufort Inlet-Cape Lookout area. In the sand dunes southwest of the fort, artillery positions were established to control the approaches to Beaufort Inlet, first with a battery of four 155 mm guns, machine gun nests, searchlights, base end station observation towers, and a battery commander station for fire control. In late 1942, the 155 mm guns were replaced by a battery of two 6-inch guns on concrete mounts, and a concrete battery commander station, barracks, and support facilities were added. Although enemy submarines were active just offshore, the troops in the Fort Macon harbor defenses never had the opportunity to engage them during the war. In November 1944, the troops were withdrawn and the fort’s defenses were deactivated as the war neared an end. After the war, the Army’s weapons, equipment, and buildings were removed, and when the park reopened to the public in 1946, only the concrete gun mounts and battery commander station remained as reminders of Fort Macon’s final wartime use. Time and the elements later reduced even those remains, and only the broken battery commander station can still be seen today.

North Carolina · United States