Battery Pratt, July 2008
CDSG Member Jack Buckmeir has been working at an ambitious project to restore Battery Pratt, a circa 1900s seacoast artillery battery at Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon, to "active status." With the help of the Friends of Old Fort Stevens (FOOFS), Fort Stevens State Park, the Oregon National Guard at Camp Rilea, and valuable technical assistance from CDSG members, Jack has been building a working full-scale replica of one of the 6-inch disappearing guns once installed in the battery.
Update as of January 2011
Ft. Stevens was very fortunate to recruit John Hofbauer, a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer with years of Navy boilermaking and metalworking experience, to do some restoration on the galleries of Bty. Pratt. Below are some pictures so you can see the beautiful results of John's work.
The first task John took on was painting and repairing the outer steel doors of the battery. Next, John began repairing and reskinning the outer doors for both shot hoists. When those were completed, John began repairing the badly rusted light fixtures for both emplacements of the battery. This spring John will wire the electricity to the fixtures so we can illuminate the gun platform at night.
The next step for John's talents will be the replication of the two Hodges shot hoists that were emplaced in the battery. For this purpose I have ordered about 1800 lbs of cut steel. We already have the gears to do the job and John will do the finishing touches on the frames.
2010 Repairing the doors of Battery Pratt
2010 Refurbishing the light fixtures at Battery Pratt
Dec 2009, installing the traversing mechanism.
Stripping out some of the carriage for modifications January 2009
Battery Pratt June 2008
Battery Pratt circa 1920s
1930s Signal Corps picture of a drill at one of Battery Pratt's 6-inch guns.
Work progress photos (below)
Sighting platform installed June 2008
internal elevation assembly May 2008
Gear box for elevation control
Gun arms in place October 2004
Close up of new gun arms
Recoil cylinders installed, July 2003
Hoisting the recoil cylinders
early steps in assembling the carraige
Base ring installed
Battery E. Lewis Scott
The Friends of Old Fort Stevens (FOOFS) had this 200 lb. Parrott Rifle built locally out of steel. The bore is 8 inches and the rifle is fired with a salute charge with a spring recoil mechanism that pulls the rifle back the length of the carriage to simulate recoil. FOOFS expended $2000 for the rifle tube and $2500 for the carriage. This is one of a series planned to be built to completely re-arm the Ft. Stevens Earthworks. Next on the list will be a 15-inch Rodman and carriage.
In the summer of 2004, a interpretive replica emplacement was built near the museum for the 200 lb. Parrott Rifle. FOOFS named the emplacement Bty. Lewis E. Scott after FOOFS Board Member Lew Scott, who was the driving force behind the construction of both the weapon and the emplacement.
