SAME BATTERY-20 YEARS LATERThese concrete gun emplacements at the Golden Gate remained in place after the war. The Army went away and the hardware was cut up for scrap, but the massive concrete bunkers are there to this day.
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LAST DAY OF THE BIG GUN
One of Battery Townsley's 16-inch guns in 1948, on the day of its last-ever target practice. Within months, the gun was cut into chunks with blowtorches. One of the former gunners thought its scrap was turned into razor blades. This was the waning moment of big-gun shore defenses in the United States. |
TWENTY YEARS LATER
By the mid-1960's the brush had covered over much of the old emplacement at Ft. Cronkhite, but the concrete gun embrasure still stood out on the hillside. During this time, Army reserve units carried out manoeuvres in and around this emplacement. The San Francisco shoreline is clearly seen in the far distance. |
WITHIN THE BATTERY TUNNEL
The Army was thorough in salvaging equipment inside the former emplacement, but these chain-hoists for shell transport were merely dismantled and left on the floor. Perhaps they had been forgotten by the scrappers. |
