A Bibliography
Submarine Defense and Torpedo School at Fort
in 1901 when it transferred responsibility for
submarine mines to the Coast Artillery
Meanwhile, President Grover Cleveland established a new board to study coast defenses and make
recommendations. Under the chairmanship of
of War William Endicott, the board's
Army, Navy, and civilian membership analyzed the coast defense situation and released its
in 1886 with proposals. Congress considered the Endicott Board's ambitious program too
costly. However, coast defense construction conformed to the recommendations, albeit on a smaller
scale than the board desired.=
Thus, the Corps of Engineers embarked on another large construction program. As Emanuel
Raymond Lewis has noted, this new program departed from earlier ones because it emphasized
weapons over structures. The Corps erected numerous concrete batteries, at first in or near former
coastal forts, to protect the weapons from enemy fire. For example, the Engineers built Battery Huger
in the center of Fort Sumter. As the construction continued and the range of guns increased, the
Corps began placing batteries where their weapons could best cover the harbor, decreasing the
number of guns and fortification sites. An important aspect of these batteries was the disappearing
gun that used recoil energy to depress it into a covered position where crews could reload in
disappearing gun, Sandy Hook, New Jersey.
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