Fort Wetherill

Early history

In the 18th Century, an earthwork fortification was constructed at the site of Dumpling Rock, which overlooks the strategic East Passage toward Newport. This old fort was occupied by American, British, and French forces for various periods of time during the Revolutionary War. The British abandoned the fort at Dumpling Rock in 1779 when they evacuated Newport.

In 1798, construction was started on a permanent fortification at Dumpling Rock under the supervision of Major Louis Tousard of the Army Corps of Engineers. This fort was officially called Fort Louis and, later, Fort Brown (after Major General Jacob Brown, commanding general of the United States Army), but it was commonly called Fort Dumpling throughout its existence. Fort Dumpling was in the form of an oval stone tower and was frequently used as an artistic motif and a place for social outings. The fort was mentioned in the Secretary of War's report on fortifications for December 1811 as being at "the Dumplins" and is described as "a circular tower of stone, with casemates... with a small expense, there can be mounted six or eight heavy guns; and now in an unfinished state".

Modern history

In 1899, the U.S. government purchased additional land during the Endicott period of coastal fortification, and built Fort Wetherill at the site of Fort Dumpling. Fort Wetherill was the largest fort of the Coast Defenses of Narragansett Bay (Harbor Defenses after 1925). It was named for Captain Alexander Macomb Wetherill, a Jamestown native who was killed in action during the Battle of San Juan Hill. Fort Dumpling was destroyed in the process of building the new fort, which featured numerous concrete emplacements for 20th-century breech-loading, rifled coast artillery pieces.

In 1901, Battery Varnum was the first modern battery to be completed, mounting two 12-inch guns on barbette carriages and situated in the far southeast corner of the fort. By 1910, the other six batteries in the fort's pre-World War II arsenal had been brought into service. Several of these batteries are now overgrown with brush, but they offer what is perhaps the longest linear concrete gun line in the coast defenses of New England.

During World War I, the fort was garrisoned by five companies of the Rhode Island National Guard. After the war, Fort Wetherill reverted to "caretaker status," with only a single Coast Artillery sergeant assigned to watch over it and other nearby facilities.

Fort Wetherill was reactivated by the U.S. Army in September 1940 as a major part of the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay, and new barracks were built to house the National Guard's 243rd Coast Artillery Regiment and its 1,200 soldiers. The 10th Coast Artillery Regiment of the Regular Army also garrisoned forts in Rhode Island 1924-45. The fort also functioned in the year before World War II as a military training facility, and late in the war as a training center for German prisoners of war. However, the big guns of the Endicott era were mostly scrapped by 1943, as Fort Wetherill was superseded by new defenses centered on Fort Greene and Fort Church. In 1946, the U.S. military ceased operations at Fort Wetherill, and the site remained abandoned for the quarter century that followed.

The State of Rhode Island officially acquired the fort on 16 August 1972 and reconfigured the site for public use as a state park. In 1972, the site was also added to the National Register of Historic Places. The park continues to attract visitors with a variety of modern recreational uses. The property offers walking trails through wooded areas and along the rocky coast, and is a popular destination for scuba diving. Spectacular ocean views draw seasonal visitors from all over who come to observe special events, such as the Tall Ships America and annual fireworks displays from atop the old fort.

Another distinctive feature of the fort is its surviving buildings and tramway system that were once used in the submarine mining operation that was run from the fort during World War I and World War II. During World War II, some 300 mines were planted on the east and west sides of Conanicut Island, protecting the approaches to Newport, and almost all of these were maintained from the Mine Wharf at Fort Wetherill. The image at left shows the old mine storehouse, one of the best preserved in the United States, with the remains of the tram tracks that used to carry the massive mines in and out its front door. Mine launches would tie up at the nearby wharf, load the mines that were to be laid, transport them out to the inlet, and lay them, together with their electric cables. Then, when these mines needed to be taken in, they were ferried back to the wharf and transported on the tramway to the various service buildings. A dual mine observation station sat atop the hill between the storehouse and Battery Varnum. Spotters manned this station (and others scattered around the harbor defenses) and could locate enemy ships approaching the minefields, signaling to the operators in the mining casemate when a given mine was to be electrically detonated.

Modern armament

Beginning in the early 20th Century, the seven major concrete gun batteries listed below were built and armed at Fort Wetherill. In addition, during World War II Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) Battery 923, consisting of two fixed 90 mm guns plus two towed 90 mm guns, was built on platforms that remained from an earlier antiaircraft gun battery. Only Batteries Dickenson and Crittenden (plus the AMTB battery) were operational during World War II. New batteries at Fort Church and Fort Greene, including 16-inch guns, superseded most of Fort Wetherill's batteries.

The batteries at Fort Wetherill were:

Battery Varnum was named for James Mitchell Varnum, a Revolutionary War general from Rhode Island. Battery Wheaton was named for Frank Wheaton, a Civil War general from Rhode Island. Battery Walbach was named for John de Barth Walbach, a career Army officer of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the Mexican-American War. Battery Zook was named for Samuel K. Zook, a Civil War general. Battery Dickenson was named for George Dickenson, an artillery officer killed in the Civil War. Batteries Crittenden and Cooke were named for two officers killed in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, also called "Custer's Last Stand".

After the US entered World War I, Battery Zook's three 6-inch guns were removed for service on field carriages on the Western Front in 1917 and were never returned to the fort. Records show the guns arrived in France, but a history of the Coast Artillery in World War I states that none of the regiments in France equipped with 6-inch guns completed training in time to see action before the Armistice.

Battery Walbach's three 10-inch guns were also dismounted in 1917 for potential use as railway guns, but two were soon remounted while the third was transferred to nearby Fort Greble in December 1918. The remaining two guns were eventually transferred to Fort H. G. Wright on Fisher's Island, New York in 1936.

Battery Cooke was disarmed in 1920 as part of a general removal from service of the 3-inch gun M1898. The "masking parapet" carriage unique to that weapon was a retractable pedestal carriage. Battery Crittenden's M1902 guns were placed in storage in 1925, but were replaced that year by two 3-inch M1903 guns from Battery Belton at Fort Adams in Newport.

Battery Varnum's guns were scrapped in 1943 as part of a general scrapping of older heavy weapons once new 16-inch gun batteries were completed. Battery Wheaton was probably also removed from service at this time, but for some reason its guns were exempted from scrapping until the war ended.

Battery Dickenson, which lacked a modern gun data computer during WW2, received its fire control radar data from Set 296-9, which was located at Brenton Pt., off Ocean Avenue in Newport.

Current uses

After being acquired by the state of Rhode Island, Fort Wetherill quickly became a location for great sightseeing and other activities. It is popular to view the Tall Ships America event that takes place in Narragansett Bay every summer, and was (prior to 1984) popular for the America's Cup sailing races. Other activities that are popular for the area include scuba diving, bird watching, fishing, trail walking, dog walking, and graffiti art. The park offers ample parking facilities, public restrooms, trash/dog waste bags, and picnic tables. Jumping off the rocks at Fort Wetherill is prohibited, along with the consumption of alcohol. The park has no entrance fee and can be accessed between sunrise and sunset. As of 2016, most batteries have been partly buried to the loading platform level for safety in visiting. Railings form walkways that allow access to some of the upper parts of the fort, with good views of the emplacements, though overgrowth inhibits sea views at some locations. There is considerable spalling of exterior concrete surfaces. The mine storehouse area is well preserved and restored, with several interpretive plaques describing the mine and net defense systems in Narragansett Bay.