Battery John Gunnison / New Battery Fremont Peck
Located at Sandy Hook NJ (Fort Hancock & Sandy Hook Proving Ground Nationsl Historic Landmark), the Battery is the most complete WWII era seacoast artiillery battery in the USA. Battery Gunnison is an "Endicott" era (1885-1905) seacoast artillery gun emplacement that was built at Fort Hancock, NJ in 1904 to protect New York City from naval attack.
Built of re-enforced concrete, it was originally armed with two 6-inch M1903 "disappearing" guns on counter-weight carriages that retracted behind a wall when they were fired, which would make them "disappear" from the view of an enemy ship. The main structure of the battery, called The Traverse, held the ammunition for the guns, support equipment, and a room to track and plot the movement of a target, should there ever be one. In November of 1942 the staff of the Harbor Defense of New York (HDNY) evaluated the defenses and concluded the location of Battery Gunnison was optimal for a Battery dedicated to the mission of the Harbor Entrance Control Post. In evaluating Battery Peck (located north of 9-gun Battery), the Army was very satisfied with the two M1900 barbette mounted 6-inch rifles but not its location. In February 1943, HDNY ordered Battery Gunnison's two M1903 6-inch disappearing guns be removed and replaced by the two M1900 6-inch barbette guns of Battery Peck. The first gun was mounted in emplacement #1 (south side) on 8 April 1943. Gun #2 was mounted on 21 May 1943. The Battery was further improved by removing the wall between the two center rooms and creating a much larger "plotting room" for modern fire control equipment. The plotting room also received an M1 Collective Protector (chemical warfare air purification system and decontamination air lock), upgraded telephone and electrical system, and the two shell hoists from old Battery Peck were installed in the magazine and two concrete bridges were installed from the raised gun platforms to improve ammunition service to the guns. Upon completion of the restructuring, "Battery Gunnison" was renamed "Battery Peck" and was fully active by June 1943. New Battery Peck was also known as “Battery No. 5”. All Batteries in HDNY had numbers in addition to most being given formal names by General Order. The original Battery Peck, renamed “Battery No. 8”, was modified to take two fixed 90mm Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (aka "AMTB") guns in place of the two M1900 6-inch barbette rifles and two additional mobile 90mm guns for a total of four such guns. Both Batteries remained manned until the end of WWII. The primary threat to the United States at this time was the German U-Boat fleet operating throughout the Atlantic Ocean and up along the entire East Coast. An additional threat was German surface ships such as cruisers, battleships and raiders (armed merchant ships) of the German Fleet. There was considerable concern for German naval bombardment of US War Industries so the Army and Navy were ever vigilent. Another threat was the German navy sinking a ship in Ambrose channel and blocking (bottling up) New York Harbor. This threat was considered very serious and the Army was always on the alert for suspicious shipping entering the harbor. New Battery Peck would serve for the duration of the war as the "Examination Battery" for the Advance Harbor Entrance Control Post (HECP) No. 1 which was located on top of Battery Potter. In this role, Battery Peck would fire a warning or "bring to" shot(s) at vessels when directed by the HECP. "Destructive Fire" would be ordered if a vessel failed to follow instructions and appeared as a threat. Manned 24 hours a day and seven days a week, the Battery would go on to fire many times during the Second World War as a warning to vessels that failed to follow protocol as they entered the harbor. The Battery fired over 300 rounds from each gun from 1943 to 1945 – some for service practices but most in support of the HECP. In 1948, the two guns were determined to be past their service life (maximum number of rounds fired for the life of the gun) and the two guns of Battery Livingston at Fort Hamilton replaced the two guns of Battery Peck. It is those two guns, serial numbers 22 and 23, that now reside in Battery Peck. The last service practice of Battery Peck was fired in 1949. The Army requested and was granted permission to cease the Harbor Defense mission and the Coast Artillery Corps as a branch was eliminated. The Harbor Defenses of New York were deactivated as a Command and Fort Hancock was closed (for about three months) just before the start of the Korean War. Fort Hancock reopened in the summer of 1950, but for a different mission – defense against Soviet Bombers. By the mid-1950s, nearly all seacoast artillery guns had been scrapped - except the two M1900 6-inch guns of "Battery Peck". The guns remained at Battery Peck until removed by the Smithsonian Institution in 1964. When the Army closed Fort Hancock and transferred the peninsula to Department of the Interior for use by the National Park Service in 1975, the Army and National Park Service teamed to return the guns to Battery Peck in 1976. The parts for the guns such as breach blocks, traversing equipment and the hoist for Gun #1 were stored in Park Service holdings. In 2002 a group of volunteers began working with the National Park Service to begin a full restoration of the Battery. In 2007 the group of volunteers incorporated as “Army Ground Forces Association”, an IRS designated 501.c.3 public charity and signed an agreement with the National Park Service. Since 2002, "Battery Gunnison/New Battery Peck" has been transformed into one of best restored seacoast artillery gun batteries in the United States. It is the only WWII era Battery that retains its guns in a condition to conduct interpretation - they traverse, elevate, the breach blocks operate and so does the fire control equipment. In a partnership with the National Park Service and the Army Ground Forces Association, the restoration of the Battery continues to this day, and visitors have a chance to step back into 1943 in a "hands on" manner with working Coast Artillery equipment such as fire control instruments and spotting telescopes, fire control telephones, load inert (dummy) ammunition, experience the only restored and operational coast artillery plotting room in the nation, experience the only fully operational M1 Collective Chemical Warfare Protective system, and operate the M1900 6-inch guns themselves. The interior of the Battery is open for guided tours whenever members of AGFA are present or as advertised on the AGFA web page (www.armygroundforces.org) or the National Park Service calendar (https://www.nps.gov/gate/planyourvisit/calendar.htm). The Battery grounds and gun platforms are always available for self guided tours. Using "317 Gunnison Road Highlands, NJ 07732" in your GPS will take you to about 300 yards from the Battery. The Battery is immediately nearby, just east of the intersection of Gunnison Road and Atlantic Drive (see map). If using Google Maps, type in "Battery Gunnison" and you will get much closer to the Battery. Using the "Bing" directions available here will bring you directly to the Battery. Parking for the Battery is just a short walk away in the adjacent "Gunnison Beach" parking lot. The entrance to the lot is on Gunnison Road, between Magruder Road and Atlantic Drive; the exit for the lot, which is next to the sidewalk that leads to the Battery, is at the intersection of Gunnison Road and Atlantic Drive. Seasonal Parking Fees apply to this parking lot between Memorial Day and Labor Day between the hours of 7 am - 4 PM, but parking is always free in the Fort Hancock Historic Post area, a 10 minute walk away from Battery Gunnison/New Battery Peck.
