"Modern History" Fort Casey's Big Guns

[Real Ira]

Here are a few images of Fort Casey in Washington State.

Now a state park popular for kite flying and hiking it at one time was considered vital to defending the sea lanes into Puget Sound.
Any warships entering the Puget Sound would have found themselves under murderous fire from the forts 5-10 inch "disappearing" guns that were designed to stay below there emplacement until the moment of firing when they were raised and fired causing them to lower back below cover once again.

Serious construction began in 1909 and due to improvements in Naval gunnery and the advent of more advanced aircraft the fort was more or less obsolete as soon as construction was finished.
The fort was deactivated in 1935 but re-activated during WW2.

Obsolete or not, if even one of these big guns survived an initial air attack it would have wrought horrendous carnage on any warships attempting to slip past.

The first image shows one of these beasts and it's "disappearing" carriage.

The second shows the gun line and an approaching merchant vessel.
I admit when I saw the ship I was turning and burning, yanking and banking to get the plane into position for "the drama shot". :D
This last shot makes clear just how effective these guns would have been if ever fired in anger.

Fort Casey is a must see for anyone visiting Washington State. Great place for a picnic with the family.
An additional note. Powered RC flight is against the rules and i had to get special permission to get these images. The fine for scofflaws, $1000.00 :eek:

Ira

[Real Ira]

One more view of the placement of the gun sites.

Ira

[GordonTarling]

Ira - there's a gun like this by Baker Beach in San Francisco - I photographed it (from the ground) when I visited back in April. Unfortunately, it was covered in tarps, so I couldn't really see what it was like. Your excellent photos have helped bring it to life for me.

[Real Ira]

Glad to be of service Gordon.
Next time I get out to Ft Casey I'll try to get you some ground shot close ups of the guns.

Fort Casey is only one of three forts that covered the approach to inner Puget Sound with a criss cross of fire zones.
Sooner or later I'll get some RC/AP done on the other two also.

Ira

[E.N.]

Boy, ya beat me to it Ira. I remember when they still had two of the big guns there and some of the smaller guns. Got a picture of my sister in one the cannons, when she was little. I love going to Ft. Casey and Ft. Ebey though haven't been to Ebey for awhile. Now I know how nice the park troopers are there, I was dumb enough not to read the sign and was flying a GWS corsair around the field. A trooper car pulled up and the officer told me that I couldn't fly a powered model. He seemed like he was sorry he had to tell me. I'm sure glad he didn't write up a 1000$ note. :~)

Ian:cool:

[Real Ira]

I asked first and made sure to show them some of my work and let them know the pic's were for a web forum that would show the park in a good light and promote it's use.

The next day I stopped by with a print of the merchant vessel in front of the big gun for there office.
Lots of smiles for that. :)

The long term goal of this thread is to document the three forts that covered the approach and the erosion issues at Fort Casey.
I used to live right next door to Fort Ebey when my kids (the now grown ones) were little.
We used to go into the tunnels at night with railroad lanterns and hoot and howel and walk through the woods listening to owls.
All preceded by scary stories of course. :D

Ira

[Real Ira]

Here you go Gordon.

Some close ups of the big guns both lowered and in battery and a good one of "the business end."

Ira

[Real Ira]

Just received an official permit from the State of Washington to do scientific research at the park by means of AP.
The goal is to document issues relevant to preservation and erosion.
There is one area in particular where erosion is of great concern and geologists have been unable to determine if the problem is resulting from ground water or sea action or both. My hope is that the images I will obtain can be used to help answer this question an aid in finding solutions.
This afternoon I met with the site manager to coordinate the imaging activity. If the weather is favorable I will have some data images for you larger brained APers look at next week.
Your opinions/impressions as they relate to the erosion issue will be passed along to officials who are studying the problem.

Ira

[icebear]

Interesting Ira! Great work!
Looking forward to seeing some photos from your coming missions...
/Bjorn

[Real Ira]

Here are some images from todays flight which covered about 1/2 the parks L shaped shoreline.

This is the are where erosion is of greatest concern.

Plainly visible is one of the search light emplacements that will doubtlessly be lost to erosion over time.

Of greater concern are the small pocket caves that develop at the base of the bluff. The bluff is comprised of glacial till, compact sand and gravel, which makes the roofs of the pocket caves very unstable and prone to collapse. They are also very attractive to children playing on the beach.

After initial review of the images it seems clear, at least to me, that the issue is almost surely wave action related. The drift wood directly against the base of the bluff says it all. Further erosion is probably unavoidable.

One contributing factor may well be the large car ferry that passes within 150yds of the beach many times a day. At high tide the wake would likely add to the natural wave action against the bluff and restrictions on the speed of this ferry when very high tide conditions exist may slow the inevitable.

When the other side of the shoreline is imaged the photos will be provided to park planners free of charge as a by-product of my hobby.
You all get to see them first here folks. ;)


Ira

[Real Ira]

The last two shoreline images.

So long as I was in the neighborhood I couldn't resist a pretty one too. :D
This is truly one of the most picturesque parks I've ever seen and it's a must see if your in the Puget Sound area.

Ira

[Real Ira]

Had a go at finishing up the first annual aerial shoreline survey of the site but was thwarted by low fog.
One more flight ought to do it.

Ira

[drawunaked]

when i was a kid you could climb through all the tunnels in the park, that was one of my favorite places to go as a kid. I remember chasing the zillion rabbits that lived there.

[irish_lord99]

When I was young I remember going to Battery Russel on the Oregon coast. A very similar looking place. I remember thinking that it would make a great paintball park! All those tunnels and such.

~Jake

[Kookaburra]

Great work Ira.

Nice disappearing guns you've got there.

Aerial views of fortifications are the best way to understand their design and interpret their layout - especially when one considers that the architecture of these late artillery forts was ever lower profile and blended into the landscape. You only get a very limited impression from ground level. Your pictures also demonstrate why the advent of the aircraft made these structures vulnerable and obsolete.

Can't wait to find some aerials of 18th and 19th century polygonal forts - and who knows, perhaps some from Europe, where the history of fortification is at the mercy of the low altitude areal photographer.

[flyvermont]

Hi,
I want to do the same work here on Lake Champlain. There are several forts up and down the lake on Vermont and New York side. You have nice quality shots.
The cannons in your pictures were made not far from me in Watervliet, NY .

[flyvermont]

Hi,
I want to do the same work here on Lake Champlain. There are several forts up and down the lake on Vermont and New York side. You have nice quality shots.
The cannons in your pictures were made not far from me in Watervliet, NY . :)