Time Elapse Photography: Battery Torbert at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island

This video features historical photographs from the 1890s until 2011 showing the progress made during the construction of Battery Alfred Torbert, which is located inside Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island in New Castle County, Delaware off the coast of Delaware City. Ft. Delaware and Pea Patch Island are located on the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Cape May, New Jersey. The gun battery was designed by the Army Corps of Engineers and built by contractors and supervised by the Army engineers. The Battery original was planned to be a "Gun-lift Battery" but those plans were scraped for the new disappearing carriages. Over 6,000 piles were driven into the ground to act as a foundation for the Endicott era gun battery and was done so circa 1896. In 1897, construction was halted until it was determined as to which gun carriage model they would use in the batter (lift carriage vs. disappearing carriage). While that was going on, the army used the funds to build Fort Mott in New Jersey. Construction began in earnest in 1898 and was complete by late 1900.

The battery was named after Maj. Gen. (Major General) T. Alfred Torbert, a native Delawarean and Civil War veteran. The gun battery is the ONLY three-story Endicott Era battery in the United States. Endicott was the secretary of war when it was determined to update American Coastal Defenses. Since Endicott Era Batteries only really exist in the United States, it is pretty safe to say that Battery Torbert is the only three-story Endicott section on Earth. Most of the Endicott Era (and Taft Era) batteries are only two stories in height.

The guns in the rifle battery were removed during WW2 and sent to Puerto Rico for defense. The gun carriages were all scrapped for the war effort. On either side of Battery Torbert are two small rapid-fire batteries that supported each two 3-inch guns on masking parapet mounts. These guns had a shorter range but were used to defend against smaller vessels and mine sweepers.

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• Army
• Corps
• of
• Engineers
• Philadelphia
• Coast
• Artillery
• Fort
• Military
• Delaware
• State
• Parks