Battery Irwin - AA Battery 2
N 37°00.096 W076°18.341
Built of concrete between 1900 and 1903 and named after Douglas S. Irwin.Originally armed with four 3-inch M1902 guns on M1898MI masking parapet mounts. All
of the guns were removed by 1928. Bewtween 1940 and 1941 the battery was redesignated
Anti-Aircraft Battery 4 and consisted of three 3-inch M1917 fixed pedestal mounted guns.
However, only one gun was actually on Irwin, the others were located nearby. The
emplacement on Irwin was modified to hold the new gun, but many of these modifications
are now gone. The other two guns were placed in their own "batteries" similar to those
found at Fort Story (see Fort Story photo gallery). In 1944 the battery was renamed
AA Battery 2. In addition, there were two concrete revetments built. One was for the
AA Director, the other was a machine gun position. The two separate AA positions and the
two revetments no longer exist. The two guns now emplaced came from Battery Lee, Ft. Wool.
These two guns are on M1902 pedestals bolted to the original M1898MI base rings.
{see "American Seacoast Defenses" 2nd Ed. pages 70, 72 and 76}
These two shielded guns were replaced in 1946.
 The guns of Battery Irwin. Battery Parrott is in the background. |
 A close-up view of a 3-inch gun. |
 Gun emplacement 1 of Battery Irwin. This was rebuilt for an anti-aircraft gun. |
 Gun emplacement 2. |
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| This is a B.C. Station next to Battery Irwin for SHB instruments.
Schematics show this as "Sub. C.H." (cable hut?) and as an Emergency Station. SHB instruments were also located at Ft Wool (tower, Hindman, Gates, Claiborne, and Dyer) in addition to Ft Monroe's Battery Montgomery. |
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