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Slocum, Fort
Description: Fort Slocum: 1861, Davids Island (80 acres), near Rye, NY. Named for Major General Henry W. Slocum, hero of Antietam and Chancellorsville. 1861 used as a Medical Facility with 22 temporary structures built to house 1,800 Confederate POWs. After Gettysburg grew to over 2,538 then later used as a Coastal Artillery post.
In 1921 gun emplacements included
Battery Overton, 2 - 12" Mortars
Battery Haskin, 2 - 12" Mortars
Battery Kinney, 2 - 3" Pedestal
Battery Fraser, 2 - 3" Pedestal
AA, 2 - 3"
For more information see Coastal Defense Study Group (http://www.cdsg.org/)
and Fort Slocum ( http://www.home.earthlink.net/~michaelacavanaugh/id1.html) [Links open new windows]
Taken from Joe McCusker's list of Air Force Bases www.airforcebase.net/usaf/joeslist.html [link opens new window]
Slocum AFB, Davids Island, New Rochelle, N.Y. (Headquarters First Air Force was at Ft. Slocum from 1946 until 1949. Ft. Slocum, on an island near New York City and accessible only by ferry boat, was redesignated Slocum AFB in June 1949. Headquarters First Air Force moved to Mitchel AFB four months later. The base was then looked after by the 166-person 2226th Standby Base Squadron, and later by a much smaller fire guard, until June 30, 1950, when the New York District Engineer assumed custody of the property and Slocum AFB ceased to exist. Ft. Slocum was reactivated as an Army post late in 1950, and closed in 1965. Twice swept by fires, the island--which is owned by the City of New Rochelle--has been in ruins for many years.)
The following was contributed by Joseph Tabaco ,TSG, NYANG (Ret):
Established as Northeast Air District on October 19, 1940. Activated on December 18, 1940 at Mitchel Field, New York, assigned to Northeast (later, Eastern) Defense Command, U.S. Army. Redesignated 1st Air Force on April 9, 1941 and First Air Force on September 18, 1942. Assigned to Army Air Forces on September 17, 1943; Continental Air Forces on April 16, 1945; and Air Defense Command on March 21, 1946. Moved to Fort Slocum (later, Slocum AFB), New York, in June 1946. Assigned to Continental Air Command on December 1, 1948. Moved to Mitchel AFB, New York, in October 1949. Discontinued on June 23, 1958. Activated on January 20, 1966, assigned to Air (later, Aerospace) Defense Command, and organized on April 1, 1966, at Stewart AFB, New York. Inactivated on December 31, 1969.
www.maxwell.af.mil/au/afhra/wwwroot/rso/numbered_airforce_index.html [link opens new window]
This is a list of bases that had no useable airfield during the time period they were officially called "Air Force Base."
www.airforcebase.net/usaf/capitalb.html [link opens new window]
NIKE: New York Nike Site NY-15C
USAF: Slocum AFB
This Nike facility, on Davids Island was operational from approximately 1955 - 1960. Fort Slocum transferred from the Army to the Air Force sometime in the late 1940s. It was redesignated Slocum AFB on 10 Jun 1949, and only remained in the Air Force inventory a short time. Disposition after Nike use is unknown.
www.airforcebase.net/usaf/usafnike.html [link opens new window]
From 1951 to 1979 the Chaplain School was situated at four posts in the New York City area: Fort Slocum (1951-1962; Fort Hamilton (1962-1974); Fort Wadsworth (1974-1979); and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey (1979-1995).
www.usachcs.army.mil/HISTORY/SchoolHist/HistorySchool.htm [link opens new window]
Fort Slocum
(1863 - 1928/1965), Davids Island
Located offshore from New Rochelle. Originally built as a military hospital complex and POW camp. Nearby Hart Island was also used. First fortified in 1878. Batteries here were an unnamed 1898 battery, Battery Haskin (1897 - 1919), Battery Overton (1897 - 1919) partially destroyed, Battery Practice (1896 - 1899) partially buried, Battery Kinney (1904 - 1917) destroyed, and Battery Fraser (1901 - 1917) destroyed. Became Slocum Air Force Base (NIKE Missile Base) from 1946 - 1950, and 1955 - 1965, and also used for the Armed Forces Information School, an Army Chaplain School, and a training and recruitment center (1919 - 1946). The island now sits abandoned and overgrown. A 15-inch Rodman cannon sits by the wharf.
www.geocities.com/naforts/nycity2.html [link opens new window]
When doing searches for Ft Slocum, be careful as there is an older Ft Slocum in the DC area
County: Westchester County
City, State: David's Island (near Rye), New York