Fort Church (Little Compton, Rhode Island)

Little Compton · Rhode Island · World War II

Quick BriefFort Church was a World War II United States Army coastal defense fort in Little Compton, Rhode Island, which together with Fort Greene near Point Judith superseded all previous heavy gun defenses in the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay. The fort was named for Colonel Benjamin Church (1639–1718), considered a forerunner of the United States Army Rangers and buried in Little Compton.

Coastal defense

History & Significance

Fort Church was built as part of a general modernization of US coast defenses that began in 1940 with the outbreak of war in Europe and the Fall of France. Three reservations were acquired for Fort Church 1939–1942, which was initially named the Sakonnet Point Military Reservation, with the North Reservation at the Sakonnet Golf Club, the East Reservation near Briggs Marsh and South Main Road, and the South Reservation near Sakonnet Point itself.

Battery Gray on the North Reservation had two 16-inch guns, Battery Reilly on the East Reservation held two casemated 8-inch guns, and the South Reservation contained a battery with two 6-inch guns plus two "Panama mounts" for towed 155 mm guns. Together with Fort Greene, Fort Church superseded all previous heavy gun defenses in the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay.

The 16-inch battery located at Fort Church in Sakonnet was never fired. In 1948, with the war over, Fort Church's guns were scrapped along with almost all other US coast artillery weapons. The batteries at Fort Church have all been buried or built over.