Fort Worden - Port Townsend, Washington
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 48° 08.048 W 122° 45.904
10U E 517479 N 5331235
Fort Worden is one portion of the "triangle of fire" - three forts that protected the entrance to the Puget Sound from Japanese submarines during WWII.
Waymark Code: WM25T5
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 09/09/2007
Views: 157
Early on it became obvious that the entrance to the sound would be an important location to protect. Not far from the entrance is the Bremerton Naval Shipyard, and further down, Seattle and Tacoma. So in the late 1800's Fort Worden (pronounced ward-en), Fort Casey and Fort Flagler were built. Together they formed a triangle of protection at the Sound's entrance. After WWI the guns in Fort Worden's 15 batteries were dismantled, but during WWII the batteries were re-equipped with torpedoes along with anti-aircraft guns.
Fort Worden was the headquarters of the Harbor Defense Command during the war and was jointly operated by the Army and the Navy. The fort was home to the 14th Coast Artillery Regiment of the U.S. Army, the 248th Regiment of the Washington National Guard, the 2nd Amphibious Engineers, and miscellaneous U.S. Navy personnel.
The main fear at the time was from Japanese submarines, which had fired on Fort Stevens near the mouth of the Columbia River. However, the guns were never needed during the lifetime of the fort.
After WWII the Coast Artillery units at Fort Worden were disbanded and the gun batteries were dismantled. It remained an active fort until June 30, 1953, when the Harbor Defense Command was deactivated and the fort officially closed.
The state of Washington purchased the fort and ran a youth detention center there until 1971 when it was turned into a state park and retreat center.
Related Website: [Web Link]
Supplementary Related Website: [Web Link]
Admission Fee: 0
Opening Days/Times:
Dawn to dusk
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Visit Instructions:
Posting a picture(s) of the location would be nice although not required.