Camp Hayden
Encyclopedia
Named for General John L. Hayden, former commanding officer of Puget Sound
harbor defenses, the 518 acres (210 ha) Camp Hayden military reservation at Tongue Point was part of the modernization of those harbor defenses begun in 1940 with anti-motor torpedo boats, seacoast armament and anti-aircraft installations.
To keep up coastal defenses during construction of Camp Hayden at Tongue Point on Crescent Bay west of Port Angeles and of Fort Ebey on Whidbey Island
, existing seacoast batteries were maintained at Forts Flagler
, Casey
and Worden
. In 1941, batteries were installed near Port Angeles and at Angeles Point, later to be replaced by the guns of Camp Hayden.
Before war's end, the Camp Hayden military reservation concealed two heavily camouflaged, bomb-proofed two-gun batteries: one six-inch installation 2,000 feet up Striped Peak
and a 16-inch battery on Tongue Point. The guns were test-fired only once.
The Camp Hayden batteries covered the entrance to Puget Sound
, the Victoria, British Columbia
harbor, and the Canadian naval base at Esquimalt.
Housed in steel-shielded, canopied concrete bunkers designed to take a direct hit, the guns were 45 feet (14 m) long, 5 feet (2 m) thick at the breech, tapering to 16 inches in diameter at the point overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca
.
The turntable on which the gun and loading mechanism revolved was large enough to turn a small locomotive. Top-grade laminated steel barrels fired one-ton projectiles nearly 50000 yards (45,720 m) (approximately 28 miles (45 km)).
Three Worthington diesels supplied power that allowed soldiers operating the guns to revolve the turntables with a flick of the wrist. The diesels also fed the Camp Hayden power plant, which was buried under an embankment between the two guns. The plant included air conditioning and heating systems, which kept projectiles at consistent temperature and humidity.
The Army
built a road from the east into the Crescent Bay
site and barracks along Salt Creek to house 150 soldiers. While on duty, the gun crews slept on cots in the tunnel linking the two emplacements. Mess hall and kitchen were also underground.
The missile age made the mammoth precision-tooled instruments of destruction obsolete as soon as construction was completed. As the war ended, soldiers departed and the wharf, built on the west side of the bay was torn out.
Owens Brothers, which got the contract to scrap the guns, used electric torches and dynamite
to reduce each 16-inch monster to 500 tons of scrap, worth $30 a ton. The guns had cost the taxpayers several million dollars apiece
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
harbor defenses, the 518 acres (210 ha) Camp Hayden military reservation at Tongue Point was part of the modernization of those harbor defenses begun in 1940 with anti-motor torpedo boats, seacoast armament and anti-aircraft installations.
To keep up coastal defenses during construction of Camp Hayden at Tongue Point on Crescent Bay west of Port Angeles and of Fort Ebey on Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island is one of nine islands located in Island County, Washington, in the United States. Whidbey is located about north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington...
, existing seacoast batteries were maintained at Forts Flagler
Fort Flagler State Park
Fort Flagler State Park is a Washington state park on the site of Fort Flagler, a former United States Army fort at the northern end of Marrowstone Island. From Fort Flagler, visitors can see Port Townsend to the northwest, the cranes at the Navy base on Indian Island to the west, and Whidbey...
, Casey
Fort Casey
Fort Casey State Park is located on Whidbey Island in Washington state. Admiralty Inlet was considered so strategic to the defense of Puget Sound in the 1890s that three forts, Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island, and Fort Worden at Port Townsend, were built at the...
and Worden
Fort Worden
Fort Worden and accompanying Fort Worden State Park are located in Port Townsend, along Admiralty Inlet in Washington. It is situated on 433 acres originally built as a United States Army installation for the protection of Puget Sound. Fort Worden was named after U.S...
. In 1941, batteries were installed near Port Angeles and at Angeles Point, later to be replaced by the guns of Camp Hayden.
Striped Peak
Striped Peak is a mountain located approximately west of Port Angeles, Washington. It is located directly off the Strait of Juan de Fuca and rises to . The mountain used to be part of Camp Hayden, there are still accessible bunkers located on the mountain. To the east is located Freshwater Bay...
and a 16-inch battery on Tongue Point. The guns were test-fired only once.
The Camp Hayden batteries covered the entrance to Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
, the Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
harbor, and the Canadian naval base at Esquimalt.
Housed in steel-shielded, canopied concrete bunkers designed to take a direct hit, the guns were 45 feet (14 m) long, 5 feet (2 m) thick at the breech, tapering to 16 inches in diameter at the point overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
.
The turntable on which the gun and loading mechanism revolved was large enough to turn a small locomotive. Top-grade laminated steel barrels fired one-ton projectiles nearly 50000 yards (45,720 m) (approximately 28 miles (45 km)).
Three Worthington diesels supplied power that allowed soldiers operating the guns to revolve the turntables with a flick of the wrist. The diesels also fed the Camp Hayden power plant, which was buried under an embankment between the two guns. The plant included air conditioning and heating systems, which kept projectiles at consistent temperature and humidity.
The Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
built a road from the east into the Crescent Bay
Crescent Bay
Crescent Bay is a cove in the northeast side of Duke of York Island in Robertson Bay, northern Victoria Land. Charted and so named because of its shape by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898–1900, under C.E. Borchgrevink. The feature is the site of an Adelie penguin rookery....
site and barracks along Salt Creek to house 150 soldiers. While on duty, the gun crews slept on cots in the tunnel linking the two emplacements. Mess hall and kitchen were also underground.
The missile age made the mammoth precision-tooled instruments of destruction obsolete as soon as construction was completed. As the war ended, soldiers departed and the wharf, built on the west side of the bay was torn out.
Owens Brothers, which got the contract to scrap the guns, used electric torches and dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
to reduce each 16-inch monster to 500 tons of scrap, worth $30 a ton. The guns had cost the taxpayers several million dollars apiece