Battery Blair

Battery Blair was the largest of six gun batteries built at Fort Williams. Named for Francis P. Blair, Jr., a veteran of the Mexican and Civil wars, it was manned during World War I and the early years of World War II. Hidden from view at sea behind a concrete and earth berm, it contained two twelve-inch guns mounted on disappearing carriages. Designed to protect Portland Harbor from enemy attacks by battleships and cruisers, these twelve-inch guns were the largest in use at the time. Firing twelve-inch-diameter, one-thousand-pound shells, they had a range of eight miles. The guns fired armor-piercing shells on a flat trajectory to breach the heavily protected hulls of battleships. The addition of anti-aircraft guns during World War I and radar during World War II reflected the ongoing modernization and technological advancement of defenses at Fort Williams. In addition to Battery Blair, five other batteries at Fort Williams were each named for deceased officers: Sullivan, DeHart, Hobart, Keyes, and Garesché.

Cape Elizabeth, Maine · United States