The 60th Coast Artillery (AA) (60th CA), during the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 era, was part of USAFFE's Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays

Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays

The Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays were part of the Philippine Department of the United States Army prior to and during World War II....

, under the Philippine Coast Artillery Command. This anti-aircraft unit was to provide air defense over Manila Bay

Manila Bay

Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...

 and the southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula

Bataan Peninsula

The Bataan Peninsula is a rocky extension of the Zambales Mountains, on Luzon in the Philippines. It separates the Manila Bay from the South China Sea...

. The 60th CA was equipped with 3-inch guns (an older model with a vertical range of 8,200 m), 37mm Guns

37mm Gun M1

The 37mm Gun M1 was an anti-aircraft autocannon developed in the United States. It was used by the US Army in World War II.In addition to the towed variant, the gun was mounted, with two M2 machine guns, on the M2/M3 half-track, resulting in the T28/T28E1/M15/M15A1 series of multiple gun motor...

, .50-caliber machine guns, and 60 inches (1.5 m) Sperry searchlights.

One battery

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

, with a platoon of searchlight

Searchlight

A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...

s, was located at Fort Wint

Fort Wint

Fort Wint was part of the harbor defenses of Manila and Subic Bays built by the Philippine Department of the United States Army between 1907 and 1920 in response to recommendations of the Taft Board prior to the non-fortification clause of the Washington Naval Treaty...

, in Subic Bay

U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay

U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay was a major ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility of the United States Navy located in Zambales, Philippines. It was the largest U.S...

.

Lineage

Constituted 23 December 1917 in the Regular Army as the 60th Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps and organized at Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...

, Virginia, comprising Regular Army companies and National Guard companies from Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Demobilized 24 February 1919 at Ft. Washington, Maryland (National Guard companies concurrently reverted to control of Virginia and the District of Columbia)

Reconstituted 26 October 1922 in the Regular Army as the 60th Artillery Battalion, Antiaircraft and organized at Fort Crockett

Fort Crockett

Fort Crockett is a government reservation on Galveston Island overlookingthe Gulf of Mexico originally built as a defense installation to protect the city and harbor of Galveston and to secure the entrance to Galveston Bay,...

, Texas.

Expanded, reorganized and redesignated 1 July 1924 as the 60th Coast Artillery.

Surrendered 6 May 1942 to the Japanese forces on Corregidor Island, Philippine Islands.

Inactivated 2 April 1946 at Fort Mills

Fort Mills

Fort Mills was the location of US Major General George F. Moore's headquarters for the Philippine Department's Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays. This was one of the locations at which, under the National Defense Act of 1935, coastal artillery training was conducted.-References:*McGovern,...

, Philippine Islands.

Redesignated 1 August 1946 as the 60th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion and activated at Fort Bliss

Fort Bliss

Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...

, Texas.

Redesignated 7 December 1949 as the 60th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion Automatic Weapons Battalion, Mobile.

Redesignated 27 July 1950 as the 60th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.

Inactivated 17 June 1957 at Southampton, England.

Reorganized and redesignated 31 July 1959 as the 60th Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System.

Redesignated 1 September 1971 as the 60th Air Defense Artillery.

Blazon

• Shield: Per fess embattled Sable and Gules fimbriated Or a pile in bend of the third the lower portion obscured by the second tincture, in sinister chief a mullet of the third.

• Crest: On a wreath of the colors Or and Sable a carabao skull Sable horned Or.

• Motto: COELIS IMPERAMUS (We Rule The Heavens).

Symbolism

• Shield:

1. The shield is divided horizontally into two parts, the dividing line being embattled to represent defense.
2. The lower half is red for Artillery; the upper half bears the colors of black and gold, significant of the Orient where the unit had its pioneer service.
3. A searchlight beam pierces the darkness of this portion of the shield signifying the never ending vigilance which this organization exercises in searching for enemy aircraft.
4. The star has a double significance. It is symbolic of the state of Texas, the Lone Star State, where the unit was reorganized after World War I, and its battleground in the heavens.

• Crest: The carabao horns are symbolic of service in the Philippine Islands where the 60th Battalion, Coast Artillery Corps served.

Background

1. The coat of arms was originally approved for the 60th Coast Artillery Regiment on 1924-05-21.
2. It was amended to change the blazon of the shield and correct the motto on 1924-10-03.
3. It was redesignated for the 60th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion and amended to correct the description on 1949-11-16.
4. The insignia was redesignated for the 60th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (Automatic Weapons) on 1954-09-08.
5. It was redesignated for the 60th Artillery Regiment on 1958-12-15.
6. It was redesignated for the 60th Air Defense Artillery Regiment effective 1971-09-01.

Description

1. A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86 cm) in height overall blazoned as follows:
2. Per fess embattled Sable and Gules fimbriated Or a pile in bend of the third the lower portion obscured by the second tincture, in sinister chief a mullet of the third.
3. Attached below and to the sides a Red scroll inscribed “COELIS IMPERAMUS” in Gold letters.

Symbolism

1. The insignia is divided horizontally into two parts, the dividing line being embattled to represent defense.
2. The lower half is red for Artillery; the upper half bears the colors of black and gold, significant of the Orient where the unit had its pioneer service.
3. A searchlight beam pierces the darkness of this portion, signifying the never ending vigilance which this organization exercises in searching for enemy aircraft.
4. The star has a double significance. It is symbolic of the state of Texas, the Lone Star State, where the unit was reorganized after World War I, and its battleground in the heavens.
5. The motto translates to “We Rule The Heavens”.

• Background:

1. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 60th Coast Artillery Regiment on 1924-05-31.
2. It was amended to correct the motto on 1924-10-03.
3. It was redesignated for the 60th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion and amended to correct the description on 1949-11-16.
4. The insignia was redesignated for the 60th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (Automatic Weapons) on 1954-09-08.
5. It was redesignated for the 60th Artillery Regiment on 1958-12-15.
6. It was redesignated for the 60th Air Defense Artillery Regiment effective 1971-09-01.

See also

• 200th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment
  200th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment
  The 200th Coast Artillery was a United States Army unit during the first half of World War II. Today descendant elements serve with the New Mexico Army National Guard as the 200th Infantry.-History:...
  
  
• Coats of arms of U.S. Air Defense Artillery Regiments
  Coats of arms of U.S. Air Defense Artillery Regiments
  Coats of arms of US Air Defense Artillery Regiments are heraldic emblems associated with Field artillery, Air Defense Artillery, and coast artillery regiments in the US Army...
  
  
• Military History of the Philippines
  Military history of the Philippines
  -Battle of Mactan:The Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521, is celebrated as the earliest reported resistance of the natives in the Philippines against foreign invaders. Lapu-Lapu, a Chieftain of Mactan Island, defeated Christian European explorers led by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand...
  
  
• Military History of the United States
  Military history of the United States
  The military history of the United States spans a period of over two centuries. During the course of those years, the United States evolved from a new nation fighting the British Empire for independence without a professional military , through a monumental American Civil War to the world's sole...
  
  

External links

• http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacunithistories/60thartycac.htm
• http://corregidor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=922