Existing comment:
Battery Construction No. 129
Last of the big gun emplacements
Never named because it was never finished, this battery was designed for the biggest, most powerful guns ever used by the United States military--16-inch caliber weapons that fired 2,100-pound shells and could hit ships 26 miles out to sea. Construction began in 1942 and was almost complete when it was halted in 1943. World War II had turned in favor of the allies and military leaders were confident that there would be no Japanese attack on this coast.
Though San Francisco's harbor was still the most significant port on the west coast at the close of World War II, coastal defense had changed forever after the aerial attacks on Pearl Harbor. There would be no more big gun batteries--Battery Construction 129 marked the end of seacoast fortifications based on land-mounted artillery positioned to fend off enemy warships.
When work on Battery Construction No. 129 was stopped, the gun barrels had been transported to the site. The weapons were never installed and the barrels lay stored in the tunnel until 1948, when they were cut up for scrap.
Embedded in the walls of the tunnel, you can see the rings through which cables would have been run to maneuver the gun barrels into the emplacements.
To hide the tunnel entrances, and the gun openings, iron rings were embedded into the surrounding concrete to secure camouflage nets. Had the battery been given a name, it would have been placed above the tunnel entrance -- the rectangular inset into the concrete was designed for that purpose.
The two gun positions on the seaward side of this hill were perched 800 feet above sea level, making this the highest coast artillery battery in the country. |