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 World War II Lookout Tower Posted by:  Samshipmate
N 38° 56.604 W 074° 58.023
18S E 502855 N 4310496
Fire Control Tower No. 23. Located on Sunset BLVD. in Cape May Point, NJ.
Parking is directly across the street.
Waymark Code: WMB2KW
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 03/27/2011
Views: 16
The World War II Lookout Tower: Fire Control Tower No. 23 Museum & Memorial is scheduled to opening to the public, Friday, March 27 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Coastal artillery reenactors from Cape Henlopen State Park will be out at the tower. Fire Control Tower No. 23 is located on Sunset Blvd. in Lower Township near Cape May Point.
Cape May went from beach town to becoming a pivotal part of America’s homeland defense efforts during the war years.
In 2008-09, Cape May’s Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC) restored New Jersey’s last freestanding World War II Lookout Tower, an important part of Cape May’s World War II history.
The World War II Lookout Tower was part of the immense Harbor Defense of the Delaware system known as Fort Miles. The tower was used for spotting enemy ships during World War II and aiming guns to fire on them.
From Fire Control Towers along the coast, soldiers would determine the exact location of an enemy ship using the geometric principle of triangulation. Each of these towers had at least two azimuths, which were binocular-like instruments that gave the precise angle between the ship and a base line.
When a target was spotted, a bell would ring at regular intervals, enabling the reader and plotter working the instrument to predict the location of the ship a few seconds in advance. This coordinate was used to aim the guns at the battery on the beach. For larger guns, it could take as long as fifty-three seconds for a shell to travel twenty-six miles to its target.
Fire Control Tower No. 23 was one of fifteen concrete fire control towers that were built for Fort Miles, eleven on the Delaware side and four here in New Jersey. It is the only New Jersey tower that has survived intact.
The towers in North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest have been demolished, while the one in Cape May City has been engulfed by the Grand Hotel on Beach Drive (you can still see its top sticking above the roofline).
As war clouds gathered in the late 1930s, the Army started building massive fortifications at the entrance to the Delaware River and Bay. Called Fort Miles, the main batteries and headquarters were in Cape Henlopen, Delaware, near the main shipping channel, while a supporting battery and lookout towers were located on the Cape May side of the Bay. Fort Miles’ charge was the protection of the highly strategic industrial centers along this waterway, including the DuPont munitions and chemical plants in Wilmington, oil refineries in Chester and shipyards in Philadelphia and Camden.
Following a nationwide Harbor Defense Modernization plan, the Army Corps of Engineers began pouring the eleven-foot thick concrete emplacements for a pair of 16-inch guns in 1940. These guns (similar to those on the Battleship New Jersey) were to be the primary weapons of the fortification. The plan also called for the five additional batteries, including a 12-inch battery, two 6-inch support batteries and a 6-inch battery on the Cape May side.
Together, these guns sealed off our region from enemy invasion. Fire Control Tower No. 23 was built in 1942 by White Construction of New York. They used a “sliding form” or “slip form,” allowing for a continuous pour of concrete.
At the top of the Fire Tower are the slits for the observation level and the rooftop platform. As it was being designed, there was debate about whether the tower should have one, two or three observation levels. In March 23, 1942 it was decided that the tower would have a single two-slit observation level, since it was only connected with one battery, at Cape May Point.
Soldiers only occupied the top two levels of the tower. The top level housed the azimuths and communications, and the next level down was a “dayroom” or a lounge for the soldiers. The rest of the building was built to give the observation level a good, high vantage point from which to spot enemy ships. Soldiers would climb to the top of the tower using wooden ladders that were attached to the wall. The ladders led to manholes in the floors, which were staggered so that if a soldier fell he would only fall one story.
The Army started dismantling Fort Miles before it was even finished – not in the face of enemy invasion but because advances in warfare made it instantly obsolete. In fact, as early as 1943, construction of the entire nationwide Harbor Defense Modernization Plan was suspended when it was only two-thirds completed.
Fire Control Tower No. 23 was listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on May 29, 2003 and on the National Register on Nov. 17, 2003. In 2004 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks and Forestry, leased the Fire Control Tower No. 23 to MAC which signed a 20-year lease with the mission of restoring the structure, interpreting its history, opening it to the public and operating it as one of its three historic sites along with the 1879 Emlen Physick Estate and the 1859 Cape May Lighthouse.
Height of Look-Out Tower in feet: 100.00
Difficulty: 
Opening times and fees:
Tower admission is $6 for adults and $2.50 for children (ages 3-12).
Dates and Times
Call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 for more information
Friday, April 01, 2011 11:00 AM
Saturday, April 02, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, April 03, 2011 11:00 AM
Wednesday, April 06, 2011 11:00 AM
Thursday, April 07, 2011 11:00 AM
Friday, April 08, 2011 11:00 AM
Saturday, April 09, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, April 10, 2011 11:00 AM
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 11:00 AM
Thursday, April 14, 2011 11:00 AM
Friday, April 15, 2011 11:00 AM
Saturday, April 16, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, April 17, 2011 11:00 AM
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 11:00 AM
Thursday, April 21, 2011 11:00 AM
Friday, April 22, 2011 11:00 AM
Saturday, April 23, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, April 24, 2011 11:00 AM
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 11:00 AM
Thursday, April 28, 2011 11:00 AM
Friday, April 29, 2011 10:00 AM
Saturday, April 30, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, May 01, 2011 10:00 AM
Wednesday, May 04, 2011 10:00 AM
Thursday, May 05, 2011 10:00 AM
Friday, May 06, 2011 10:00 AM
Saturday, May 07, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, May 08, 2011 10:00 AM
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 10:00 AM
Thursday, May 12, 2011 10:00 AM
Friday, May 13, 2011 10:00 AM
Saturday, May 14, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, May 15, 2011 10:00 AM
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 10:00 AM
Thursday, May 19, 2011 10:00 AM
Friday, May 20, 2011 11:00 AM
Saturday, May 21, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, May 22, 2011 10:00 AM
Monday, May 23, 2011 11:00 AM
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 11:00 AM
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 11:00 AM
Thursday, May 26, 2011 11:00 AM
Friday, May 27, 2011 11:00 AM
Saturday, May 28, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, May 29, 2011 10:00 AM
Monday, May 30, 2011 11:00 AM
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 11:00 AM
Wednesday, June 01, 2011 11:00 AM
Thursday, June 02, 2011 11:00 AM
Friday, June 03, 2011 11:00 AM
Saturday, June 04, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, June 05, 2011 10:00 AM
Monday, June 06, 2011 11:00 AM
Tuesday, June 07, 2011 11:00 AM
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 11:00 AM
Thursday, June 09, 2011 11:00 AM
Friday, June 10, 2011 11:00 AM
Saturday, June 11, 2011 10:00 AM
Sunday, June 12, 2011 10:00 AM
Monday, June 13, 2011 11:00 AM
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 11:00 AM
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 11:00 AM
Thursday, June 16, 2011 11:00 AM
Parking Area: N 38° 56.604 W 074° 58.023
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Visit Instructions:
Please log only if you have been up there and you must include a photo of the scenic view from the top.
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