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Coastal artillery
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Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
tal artillery appeared in Europe almost as soon as the introduction of cannons during the 16th century; when a colonial power took over an overseas territory, one of their first tasks was to build a coastal fortress, both to deter rival naval powers and to subjugate the natives.
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Encyclopedia
Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
History
Coastal artillery appeared in Europe almost as soon as the introduction of cannons during the 16th century; when a colonial power took over an overseas territory, one of their first tasks was to build a coastal fortress, both to deter rival naval powers and to subjugate the natives. During the 19th century China also built hundreds of coastal fortresses in an attempt to counter Western naval threats.
Coastal artillery could be part of the Navy (as in Scandinavian countries, war-time Germany, and the Soviet Union), or part of the Army (as in Anglophone countries). In the United Kingdom, coastal artillery was the responsibility of the Royal Garrison Artillery.
In the United States, coastal artillery was established in 1794 as a branch of the Army and a series of construction programs of coastal defenses began: the "First System" in 1794, the "Second System" in 1804, the "Third System" or "Permanent System" in 1816, and the "Endicott System" in 1890 (with disappearing guns mounted in batteries).
The first decade of the 20th Century, the United States Marine Corps established the Advanced Base Force, although the force was used for setting up and defending advanced bases, its close ties to the Navy allowed them to fully manage coastal and harbor defenses of U.S. naval bases. During World War II the role of the U.S. coastal artillery was shifted from anti-ship to anti-aircraft with the advent of the airplane and airpower.
It has been held as a general rule of thumb, that one shore based gun equaled three naval guns of the same caliber.
After World War II the advent of jet aircraft and guided missiles reduced the role of coastal artillery in defending a country against air and sea attacks while also rendering fixed artillery emplacements vulnerable to enemy strikes. In countries where coastal artillery has not been disbanded, these forces have acquired amphibious capabilities akin to that of the Marine Corps. In constricted waters, such mobile coastal artillery armed with surface-to-surface missiles still can be used to deny the use of sea lanes from a modern opponent.
Examples
In the UK
British coastal guns outside the UK
United States of America
Asia
Nazi Germany
South America
Other
See also
Further reading
External links
- coast artillery study group
- , 1911 Britannica
- John T. Duchesneau:
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