Battery Jasper

Battery Jasper. , Battery Jasper, the primary Endicott System battery on Sullivans Island, was rushed to completion in 1898 when the Spanish-American War began. This massive, reinforced-concrete structure before you was named for Sgt. William Jasper. Revolutionary War defender of the palmetto log fort., Four powerful 10-inch disappearing rifles were mounted on the deck of Battery Jasper. These new, breech-loading weapons each weighed 55 tons, had a range of 8.5 miles, and fired shells weighing 571 pounds., You may explore Battery Jasper’s gun deck and the cave-like magazine (shell room) beneath the gun deck, walking in the footsteps of soldiers who stood ready to defend against enemy attack., Lt. Johnson Haywood of Company C, , 1st Artillery, recalled the hectic days. , “A thousand and one parts, all the way from nuts and bolts in gunny sacks up to twenty and thirty ton pieces of steel had been dumped haphazardly in the sand wherever the transportation contractor had found it convenient to his purpose. I had to collect these things together, clean them up, and fit them together, all without any instructions.”, ( Sidebar : ) , Above a photo of a Battery Jasper gun crew, 1930s: “Battery Jasper never fired a shot defending Charleston, but it served to train Coast Artillery and National Guard units until 1943. , During firing exercises Sullivans Island shook with concussion from the large guns; residents were cautioned to leave windows open to prevent shattering glass.”, Above a photo of Workers installing one of Battery Jasper’s 10-inch rifles, late 1890s: “Labor gangs worked for weeks assembling and installing the 55-ton guns.”