Battery Steele (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Battery Construction #102) is aUnited States militaryfortification onPeaks Island,Portland, Maine, inCasco Bay. Completed in 1942 as part ofWorld War II, it is located on 14 acres (5.7 ha) on the oceanside area of the island, formerly part of thePeaks Island Military Reservation. It is named forHarry L. Steele, who was aCoast Artillery officer duringWorld War I. It was armed with two16-inch MkIIMI guns and, with a 12-inch gun battery atFort Levett onCushing Island, replaced all previous heavy guns in theHarbor Defenses of Portland.[2] It was built to protect Casco Bay, particularly Portland harbor, fromKennebunk toPopham Beach inPhippsburg.[3] According to Kim MacIsaac and historian Joel Eastman inAn Island at War, “Battery Steele is not only the largest gun battery built on Peaks Island, but also an example of the largest battery ever built anywhere in the United States.”[4] In 1995, after decades of non-use, thePeaks Island Land Preserve, a community land preservation group, formed to purchase the area and forever preserve it as a public space.[3] On October 20, 2005, the property was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. Other coast defense structures on the island includefire control towers and the counterweight for a disappearingsearchlight tower (it "disappeared" when folded down).
Battery Steele was part of a comprehensive program begun in 1940 to replace obsolete coast defenses, many of which dated from theEndicott Program of 1885-1905. In theHarbor Defenses of Portland, the only large-caliber (8-inch or larger) pre-war battery still in use by 1944 was Battery Foote at Fort Levett, Cushing Island,casemated like Battery Steele to resist air attack and armed with two12-inch guns on long-range carriages.[2][5] Another two-gun 16-inch battery, Battery Construction Number (BCN) 101, was planned for the Cape Elizabeth Military Reservation nearTwo Lights State Park, but was cancelled as the threat to the US East Coast from surface ships was nearly non-existent by 1943.[2]
Smaller batteries were also built during World War II. Three two-gun6-inch batteries were built in Casco Bay, but only one of these was armed. The armed battery was Battery Cravens (BCN 203), also on Peaks Island, now part of a private residence. The other two were BCN 201 in Two Lights State Park and BCN 202 onJewell Island.[6][7] Older 6-inch gun batteries retained in service in Casco Bay included two two-gun batteries atFort McKinley onGreat Diamond Island and Fort Levett on Cushing Island. Three older3-inch gun batteries were retained atFort Williams nearPortland Head Light,Fort Preble inSouth Portland, andFort Lyon on Cow Island. Three new two-gun 3-inch batteries were constructed during World War II, on Peaks Island,Long Island, andGreat Chebeague Island. Positions for a total of ten Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) batteries with90 mm guns were constructed in Casco Bay. Each battery was authorized four 90 mm guns, two on fixed mounts and two on towed mounts; the actual number of guns on hand for each battery may have varied. The guns were dual-purpose, able to fire against air or surface targets. The batteries were at Long Island (2), Great Chebeague Island (1),Bailey Island (1), Peaks Island (2), Jewell Island (2), Fort Levett (1), and Fort Williams (1). All US coast defenses were abandoned and most of the guns scrapped shortly after World War II.[2]
