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Battery Steele

1942 establishments in MaineArtillery batteriesCasco BayForts on the National Register of Historic Places in MaineGovernment buildings completed in 1942
History of Portland, MaineMilitary facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in MaineMilitary installations established in 1942National Register of Historic Places in Portland, MainePeaks Island, MaineUnited States Army in World War II
Battery Steele bunker on Peaks Island, Maine
Battery Steele bunker on Peaks Island, Maine

Battery Steele (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Battery Construction #102) is a United States military fortification on Peaks Island, Portland, Maine in Casco Bay. Completed in 1942 as part of World War II, it is located on 14 acres (5.7 ha) on the oceanside area of the island, formerly part of the Peaks Island Military Reservation. It is named for Harry L. Steele, who was a Coast Artillery officer during World War I. It was armed with two 16-inch MkIIMI guns and, with a 12-inch gun battery at Fort Levett on Cushing Island, replaced all previous heavy guns in the Harbor Defenses of Portland. It was built to protect Casco Bay, particularly Portland harbor, from Kennebunk to Popham Beach in Phippsburg. According to Kim MacIsaac and historian Joel Eastman in An Island at War, “Battery Steele is not only the largest gun battery built on Peaks Island, but also an example of the largest battery ever built anywhere in the United States.” In 1995, after decades of non-use, the Peaks Island Land Preserve, a community land preservation group, formed to purchase the area and forever preserve it as a public space. On October 20, 2005, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other coast defense structures on the island include fire control towers and the counterweight for a disappearing searchlight tower (it "disappeared" when folded down).

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Battery Steele (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Battery Steele
Ledgewood Street, Portland Peaks Island

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Latitude Longitude
N 43.658888888889 ° E -70.180555555556 °
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Peaks Island Land Preserve

Ledgewood Street
04108 Portland, Peaks Island
Maine, United States
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Battery Steele bunker on Peaks Island, Maine
Battery Steele bunker on Peaks Island, Maine
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