Fort Ward is a former United States Army coastal artillery fort, and later, a Navy installation located on the southwest side of Bainbridge Island along Rich Passage in the U.S. state of Washington. The United States Army is one of the armed forces of the United States and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... 19th century coastal artillery guns preserved in Suomenlinna fortress in Helsinki Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating mobile anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. ... The United States Navy, also known as the USN or the U.S. Navy, is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by and/or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. ... Bainbridge Island is an island in Puget Sound, and is an incorporated city located in Kitsap County, Washington. ... The Washington State ferry Hyak in Rich Passage heading to Bremerton, WA. The east end of Rich Passage, from a Manchester beach Rich Passage is a tidal strait, in Puget Sound, allowing access to Bremerton, Washington and Dyes Inlet, and separating Bainbridge Island from the Manchester area of the Kitsap... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties Libertarian Party State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of... This article deals with the U.S. state. ...

History

Early

During the 1880s a special board convened by Secretary of War William C. Endicott made sweeping recommendations for new or upgraded coastal defense installations and weapons systems. As the twentieth century approached, American military strategists realized that heavy, fixed artillery required a very different training program than lighter, mobile field artillery. William Crowninshield Endicott (November 19, 1826 - May 6, 1900) was an American politician. ... Artillery with Gabion fortification Cannons on display at Fort Point Continental Artillery crew from the American Revolution Firing of an 18-pound gun, Louis-Philippe Crepin, (1772 – 1851) A forge-welded Iron Cannon in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. ... Union Army gun squad at drill, c. ...

Fort Ward was originally known as Beans Point and was established in 1890 as one of several U.S. Army Coastal Artillery Corps installations, including Fort Flagler, Fort Casey and Fort Worden, built to defend Puget Sound from enemy warships. Its primary objective was to protect the nearby Bremerton Naval Shipyard. 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Fort Flagler State Park is a Washington state park on the site of Fort Flagler, a former United States Army fort at the northern end of Marrowstone Island. ... Fort Worden is located in the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend, Washington, United States. ... Puget Sound Puget Sound (pronounced IPA ) is a sound connected to the Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0. ...

In 1903, the U.S. Army officially designated Beans Point as a seacoast fort and named it Fort Ward in honor of Colonel George H. Ward. Activity in and around the fort continued as new buildings were constructed and new troops arrived. 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... George Hull Ward (born April 26, 1826, in Worcester, Massachusetts; died July 3, 1863, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) was a soldier and Union officer in the American Civil War. ...

The coastal artillery batteries located at Fort Ward were: 19th century coastal artillery guns preserved in Suomenlinna fortress in Helsinki Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating mobile anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. ...

• Battery Nash (1903-1918), three 8" DC, hidden along the bluff, now on private property;
• Battery Warner (1903-1925), two 5" P, now on private property;
• Battery Thornburgh (1903-1920), four 3" MP;
• Battery Vinton (1903-1920), two 3" MP.

In the 1920s, Fort Ward was placed on inactive status, but a small number of men were still stationed there. In 1928, the fort was essentially left abandoned. The fort remained abandoned for several years, until 1935, it served as a state-operated fresh air camp for inner city children from Seattle. 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The 1920s is a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ...

Before and during World War II

In 1938, the U.S. Navy took over Fort Ward from the U.S. Army, and confiscated several surrounding properties and evicted the owners. The U.S. Navy found the fort to be attractive after tests had shown that it was an outstanding location to eavesdrop on radio communication transmitted from the Far East, chiefly Japan. In August 1939, the U.S. Navy relocated the Astoria, Oregon intercept site to Fort Ward. This was the beginning of the development of Fort Ward as a top-secret military listening post. Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... The Astoria Column Suomi Hall, the meeting hall of Finnish and Scandinavian immigrants, under the Astoria-Megler Bridge Woman walking her dog along the Columbia River in Astoria The city of Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. ...

Rhombic antennas were installed on the Parade Ground, and the old post exchange/gymnasium building was converted into a top secret listening post named "Station S." Inside Station S, men and women worked 24 hours a day, listening in on Japanese Naval communications, which were transmitted in the Japanese Morse Code. This building is now a private home. In biology, antenna (plural: antennae) refers to the sensing organs of several arthropods. ...

The Listening Post activities were so top secret that personnel on the base were instructed not to look at the building when they walked by it.

Meanwhile, the Navy developed a "cover story" for what was happening at Naval Radio Station Bainbridge Island. The story -- that it was one of the few Naval Reserve Radio Schools in the nation -- received a full page of coverage in the Seattle Times on January 11, 1941. Some of the sailors pictured in the article actually worked at Station S after their training. Photos show the sailors copying Morse code in a classroom, setting up a Morse Code-sending machine, and marching from their school building to noon mess. The daily Seattle Times is the leading newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. ... January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... It has been suggested that Farnsworth method and Koch method be merged into this article or section. ...

The first chapter of David Kahn's book Codebreakers (1967) tells about how Station S intercepted the communication from Tokyo to the Japanese Ambassador that instructed him to break off negotiations just before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. David Kahn is a US historian, journalist and writer. ... Cryptanalysis (from the Greek kryptós, hidden, and analýein, to loosen or to untie) is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information without access to the secret information which is normally required to do so. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Satellite image of Pearl Harbor. ... December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

In November 1942, Fort Ward also assumed control of naval intelligence assignments previously tasked to the Royal Canadian Navy. Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was the navy of Canada from 1911 until 1968 when the three branches of the Canadian military were merged into the Canadian Armed Forces. ...

After World War II, personnel on the base (which was transferred to the US Army in the late '50s) continued to listen in on radio transmissions -- first Korean and then Soviet. The Fort Ward command also oversaw the construction of the Navy's largest radio transmitter at Battle Point, with a tower 300-feet taller than the Space Needle. This was used to send messages to Navy Command at Pier 91 in Seattle. Activity continued at the radio station until 1956. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Space Needle from Downtown Seattle. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In August 1940, the U.S. Navy had five sites with diplomatic targets which were all linked directly, or indirectly through Army circuits, to Washington, D.C. via radio and landline communications. These sites were Winter Harbor, Maine; Amagansett, New York; Cheltenham, Maryland; Jupiter, Florida; and Fort Ward -- Bainbridge Island, Washington. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D... Winter Harbor is a town located in Hancock County, Maine. ... Amagansett is a census-designated place and hamlet located in Suffolk County, New York. ... Jupiter is a town located in Palm Beach County, Florida. ...

In March 1941, a commercial teletype line between Winter Harbor, Amagansett, and Fort Ward was inaugurated. Communications between Washington, D.C. and its far-flung resources in the Pacific continued to be primitive. Messages and intercept logs, reports and professional correspondence, if classified, were painstakingly enciphered by the radio intelligence officer himself using special equipment and instructions. If transmitted as messages on manual Morse circuits or landlines, they were delivered to the communications center where they were again enciphered. Winter Harbor is a town located in Hancock County, Maine. ... Amagansett is a hamlet ( and a census-designated place) located in Suffolk County, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. ...

Post World War II

The U.S. Army abandoned operations in 1958. Upon the second deactivation, the Washington State Parks Department negotiated for acquisition of part of the fort, which became Fort Ward State Park. Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fort Ward State Park is the State Park on which Fort Ward was located. ...

Over the years, some of the buildings have been converted into homes, and the area, the settlement of Fort Ward, has been designated a National Historic Site, the only one of its kind on Bainbridge Island. Many of the homes are also listed on the City of Bainbridge Island's Historic Register. National Historic Site is a designation for a protected area of historic significance. ...

References

"The Little Fort at Bean Point" by Ivan W. Lee, Jr.