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This virtual was placed in cooperation with the kind folks at the National Park Services.
Battery John Gunnison was built in 1904 as a rapid fire twin six inch disappearing gun battery. It was named in honor of Captain John Gunnison, a US Army topographical engineer who was attacked and killed during an expedition in Utah on October 26, 1853. The two M1903 six-inch guns, mounted on counter-weight disappearing carriages, were medium caliber weapons that could be fired rapidly at faster moving enemy vessels such as patrol boats, destroyers, or minesweepers.
In 1943, the battery was extensively modified both internally and externally for two M1900 six inch barbette (pedestal mounted) guns, two shell hoists and a modern and expanded Plotting Room. The guns were moved from (old) Battery Fremont Peck to Battery Gunnison's location gaining a better field of fire. The battery was then renamed — Battery "New Peck." Battery Peck was named for Lieutenant Fremont Pearsons Peck, a US Army Ordnance Corps officer killed at Sandy Hook Proving Ground in a weapons testing explosion on February 19, 1895. The now-vacant Battery Peck emplacement was then modified as well for .90 mm M1 Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat guns.
Following conversion, which was completed by the summer of 1943, Battery New Peck became the Examination Battery for the Advanced Harbor Entrance Control Post No. 1, located on the roof of Battery Potter, also at Fort Hancock. This was one of three harbor entrance control posts operating in New York Harbor. The primary command and control post was located within Fort Thompkins, an older masonry coast defense fort dating from the 1840s, located high on the bluffs on the Fort Wadsworth reservation in Staten Island, with vantages overlooking the entire harbor and all sea approaches. The second was the Advanced Harbor Entrance Control Post No. 2 at Fort Hancock, which was responsible for confirming the identification of every last Allied ship within all convoys, as well as other vessels, as they entered into New York Harbor from the open ocean, all as the U-boat war and the Battle of the Atlantic raged off the Jersey Shore. Advanced Harbor Entrance Control Post No. 3 was at Fort Tilden Long Island, and supervised the out-bound convoys heading out to sea. These were no small feats, as convoys could have an average number of over 100 ships.
Twenty-four hours a day, New York Harbor hummed with hundreds of fully laden ammunition ships, fuel tankers, freighters, and troop ships. These were supplied by a hub of highways and railroads connecting factories and refineries, all leading into massive storage facilities ringing the harbor in New York and New Jersey. With 60% of all Allied war material destined for Africa, the Mediterranean, and the European Theater leaving from New York, Brigadier General Philip S. Gage, Sr, the New York Harbor Defense Commander, testified before Congress, stating, "I am the defender of twenty million people and the industrial heartland of the nation."
The primary threat to all American harbors at this time was commerce raiding and blockships, which could offer a far more devastating attack than that of a conventional warship. With such a high concentration of war material in so dense an area, if a merchant raider could sneak past the harbor forts disguised as an Allied vessel, they could barrage the harbor infrastructure and supply depots with deck guns in a surprise attack. A blockship attack was also greatly feared. The US Navy reported to the US Army harbor defense command that a scuttled enemy vessel in the outer harbor in deep water would take a minimum of thirty days to raise or clear. With the Ambrose Channel blocked, this would effectively bring the flow of supplies going overseas to a halt for a month. Therefore, maximum effort was taken to ensure that only Allied vessels would gain entrance to the harbors.
As ships approached New York Harbor, they would be flashed a challenge code from the Advanced Harbor Entrance Control Post No. 1 via signal lamp or signal flags. Vessels that got their challenge code reply wrong, failed to follow protocol, or simply acted suspiciously, would be ordered to halt, pending an immediate investigation and inspection via boarding, conducted by the US Navy and/or US Coast Guard. This order would also be issued in conjunction from the examination vessel anchored near the mouth of the Ambrose Channel. A US Navy destroyer or a US Coast Guard cutter would often be orbiting the area as a guard ship, supporting the Examination vessel.
If a vessel still failed to stop, and ignored the Guard ship and Examination vessel, Battery Gunnison / New Peck would be been alerted via telephone by the Harbor Entrance Control Post No. 1; a description of the vessel's class, paint scheme, national flag flown, speed, and proximity to the nearest buoy in either the Ambrose or Sandy Hook Ship Channels.
Observers in fire control towers assigned to Battery Gunnison / New Peck would immediately begin tracking the ship, and relaying information to the Battery's plotting room. Once the proper calculations were made, the ship would be brought under fire via "bring to" shots fired by the battery. These were warning shots using inert shells, fired well in front of the vessel, straight into the water, to get its attention with the shell splash. If the vessel still failed to 'heave-to' at this time, Battery Peck would begin "destructive fire" with armor-piercing, high-explosive ammunition to neutralize the threat before it could get close enough to attack the harbor or scuttle in one of the channels. The NewJersey shore was considered a full war-zone during World War II, and operations at Fort Hancock were on a "Shoot First - Ask Later" mindset in dealing with potential threats.
So tense was the nature of the defense, and so real the threat, that from September 1943 to September 1944, Battery Gunnison / New Peck would open fire on thirteen separate occasions. On each occasion, the vessels turned out to be Allied ships. The battery remained on 24-hour alert status through the end of World War 2.
Battery Gunnison/New Peck is currently being restored and is open to the public. It is a very nicely done reconstruction and the people were very nice and informative.when I stopped in to collect information.
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Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
Historical text courtesy of Wikipedia