If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 99

Here are a few other postcards from the series about Fort Casey, near Coupeville, Washington on Whidbey Island.  Admiralty Inlet where Fort Casey is located was considered vital to the strategic defense of Puget Sound during the Spanish American War in the 1890s.   Fort Casey is one of three forts built at that time.  The other two forts are:  Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island and Fort Worden at Port Townsend.  It was thought that three fortresses would thwart invasion by sea.  The huge guns were built at the entrance to each fort creating a “triangle of fire.”   The guns were mounted on disappearing carriages that could be raised and exposed only long enough to fire.  Because of the invention of the airplane the guns became obsolete almost as soon as they were in place and ready.  Two of the 12-inch guns were salvaged in the mid-1960s. 

The photograph on the card above shows the 12-inch gun being fired.  At the upper portion of the picture to the right it is possible to see the shell in the air.  Whether by design or accident this is an amazing thing to see captured on film.   The shells could travel ten miles or more and since the channel is only 5 miles wide the three forts could easily cover the entire area.  The reverse side of the card contains information about the gun.

The cards below show the military encampment as Fort Casey was being established in the 1890s and the original Red Bluff lighthouse. 

 

Red Bluff Lighthouse, ca 1890

The wooden Red Bluff lighthouse was moved a short distance to accommodate the building and manning of the fort.  The newer brick Admiralty Head lighthouse shown below was built in 1903.  The brick lighthouse has a distinctive separate tower. 

For more information about Fort Casey and the lighthouses see:

http://www.lhdigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=1372
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Casey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Coast_Artillery_%28United_States%29