Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Mike Stroud
Taken: January 27, 2008
Caption: Battery Hambright -The battery held two emplacements for three-inch rapid-fire guns.
Additional Description: Battery Hambright, was part of the Fort Screven coastal fortification system intended to protect Savannah shipping lanes in anticipation of hostilities from Spain, which had a stronghold in its colony of Cuba. The battery, located inside a large protective mound of dirt, is one of six built for Fort Screven, and the only one on Cockspur Island. Construction started in June of 1899 after the Spanish-American War had ended, and the battery consisted of two 3-inch rapid-fire gun placements. Stretching across the Savannah River from the battery was a submarine minefield. It was electronically controlled by a mining casemate built in 1895 and located under a mound of earth near Fort Pulaski. The mines were anchored to the bottom of the river, but floating above them was a buoy. When passing ships struck the buoy, an electronic signal was sent to the casemate. The two or three men working in the casemate would determine if the ship was friend or foe. If the ship was an enemy, more than 500 pounds of explosives could be detonated.
Submitted: January 5, 2009, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.
Database Locator Identification Number: p49091
File Size: 0.151 Megabytes

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