Battery Granger Marker

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Sandy Hook in Monmouth County, New Jersey — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Battery Granger

By Bill Coughlin, September 24, 2009

1. Battery Granger Marker

Inscription. Granger’s 10-inch rifle could strike a battleship eight miles out to sea. A simple counterweight system quickly raised and lowered the gun, and a well-trained crew could fire off two rounds a minute. Protected in front by fifty feet of earth and concrete, this 1897 battery was almost immune to the flat trajectory fire of 19th century warships.
The Disappearing Gun
Recoil lowers the gun behind the parapet. To conceal and protect coastal guns and crews from increasingly accurate fire of modern warships, two American officers, Adelbert Buffington and William Crozier, perfected the design of the “disappearing” gun carriage. Loading was easier because shot trucks could bring heavy ammunition directly to the breech of the lowered weapon. To pivot the gun back to firing position, a latch was tripped, releasing a 45-ton counterweight hanging in a well below the carriage.

This battery made Battery Potter, 250 yards north, obsolete almost as soon as it was completed. Potter’s steam-powered hydraulic lifts allowed its guns to disappear also, but could not compete with the speed and efficiency of the Buffington-Crozier system.

Erected by National Park System.

Location. 40° 28.233′ N, 74°

Marker in Fort Hancock Photo, Click for full size

By Bill Coughlin, September 24, 2009

2. Marker in Fort Hancock

0.236′ W. Marker is in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, in Monmouth County. Click for map. Marker is in Fort Hancock, in the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area. Marker is in this post office area: Highlands NJ 07732, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Fort Hancock (within shouting distance of this marker); Battery Potter (within shouting distance of this marker); Navigating Sandy Hook Waters (about 700 feet away, in a direct line); Rodman Gun (approx. 0.4 miles away); 200 Years of Service (approx. 0.4 miles away); Protecting American Coasts (approx. 0.4 miles away); Sandy Hook Light (approx. 0.6 miles away); Keeping the Light (approx. 0.6 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Sandy Hook.

More about this marker. The left of the marker features a photograph showing soldiers at the big gun in Battery Granger. Below this are pictures of the gun in firing position and in its concealed position. Portraits of Adelbert Buffington and William Crozier appear on the right of the marker.

Also see . . . Fort Hancock. NY Harbor Parks website. (Submitted on September 24, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of North Arlington, New Jersey.)