Our next stop takes us to Fort Stevens, which was built near the end of the Civil War to guard the mouth of the Columbia River. Later it during World War II, the fort became the first US military installation on the mainland to come under fire, when a Japanese submarine surfaced and fired shells from it's deck gun. This was in June 1942, but the shells only damaged a backstop of the posts baseball field. The fort was decommissioned in 1947 and is now an Oregon state park.
We take some time to walk through the visitor's center, which includes several information panels about the fort's history, both during the Civil War and World War II. From there, we head out and walk through several of the former gun batteries that stood guard. Unlike many forts that I have visited over the years, the tactical design of this is not readily apparent and it feels more like a bunch of ideas thrown together, rather than a unifying theme supporting a singular tactic. Either way, it's interesting to walk through the halls where brave souls once defended their nation.
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