Fort Duvall (Hull, Massachusetts)

Hull · Massachusetts · World War II

Quick BriefFort Duvall was a Coast Artillery fort guarding Boston Harbor on Hog Island (later Spinnaker Island) in Hull, acquired by the U.S. government in 1917 and constructed in the early 1920s. It mounted a single battery, Battery Long, equipped with a pair of 16-inch guns—the largest caliber weapons in the entire harbor defense system. The guns were casemated in 1942 to protect against air attack. The island was turned over to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1974 and eventually sold to private interests for development as a gated community.

Endicott SystemCoastal defense

History & Significance

Fort Duvall served as a Coast Artillery fort within the Harbor Defenses of Boston, positioned on Hog Island after the government's 1917 acquisition of the land. Battery Long mounted the harbor's most powerful artillery: two 16-inch M1919 guns, one of only seven such weapons ever deployed.

Hidden behind the bluff at Point Allerton, the fort remained invisible from the sea, with fire directed from a tall control tower at Point Allerton. In the early 1940s, the emplacement of these 16-inch guns rendered the harbor's older 10-inch and 12-inch batteries, including those at nearby Fort Revere, obsolete and led to their decommissioning and scrapping.

Guns were casemated in 1942 for protection against air attack during World War II. After 1948, when the guns were scrapped, the island hosted a 90-mm antiaircraft battery from 1952–1955 and later served as a Nike missile control center from 1956–1974. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts received the island in 1974 and eventually sold it to private interests for gated-community development.