SCROLLBASES -- Summary-Earlier Era [p11 of 14]
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WHO's SCROLL |
BASES -- Summary-Earlier Era [p11 of 14] |
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FORMER MILITARY INSTALLATIONS (First half of the 20th Century) -- Continued FORT RANDOLPH (1911-1940/53/79) (Atlantic side/Army) (3,691 acres) Fort Randolph was built 1911 on Margarita and Galeta Islands (actually a narrow-necked peninsula northeast of Colon and near Coco Solo) as part of the original coast artillery fortifications to defend the Panama Canal. Four coast artillery batteries were constructed there beginning in 1912: Batteries Tidball and Zalinsky (completed in 1914 and each armed with four 12-inch mortars); Battery Webb (completed in 1915; equipped with two 14-inch rifles); and Battery Weed (completed in 1916; with two 6-inch rifles). Later two firing points were constructed for the two 14-inch railway guns brought to the Canal Zone in 1929 for use at Fort Randolph and Fort Amador on the Pacific side. The guns were manned during World Wars I and II and all were dismounted and removed from the Canal Zone in 1946-1948.
Included at Fort Randolph were coastal artillery barracks, family housing and administrative facilities. In 1933, the Fort Randolph Reservation was increased to 3,691 acres and in 1940, the Secretary of War transferred to the Navy Department a tract of land containing approximately 1,250 acres which included a portion of Fort Randolph. Following World War II Fort Randolph was placed on standby basis. In 1953, part of the Fort Randolph Reservation was transferred to the Navy to be used by the Naval Security Group Activity. In the 1960s, Fort Randolph was used for USARSO's Noncommissioned Officers Academy and also for special Army training and maneuvers, especially by the Special Forces unit at Fort Gulick. Its family quarters had been used to house personnel assigned to other posts. By 1970, the reservation, consisting of only 233 acres had been declared inactive and was transferred to Panama October 1, 1979.
Site developed, owned and maintained by William H. Ormsbee, Jr. 2005
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