Battery Potter
Battery Potter's 12 inch gun firing. Gateway NRA/NPS Museum Collection Fort Hancock's Battery Potter, constructed from 1890-1894, was the first disappearing gun battery in the U. S. Originally called Lift-gun Battery #1, it was the first and only disappearing gun battery powered by a steam hydraulic lift system. In operation from 1893-1906, it was obsolete by the time it was built because the fastest firing of the gun took over two minutes. The Army had developed a new gun carriage that used a counterweight to raise and lower the gun called the Buffington-Crozier carriage. This carriage allowed the guns to fire two rounds per minute. Battery Potter stayed in operation until 1906 because it had a 360 degree range of fire and was capable of covering Sandy Hook Bay. When Battery Arrowsmith was constructed on the bayside of Sandy Hook at Camp Low, Battery Potter's guns were no longer needed. Through the work of volunteer-in-park Mike Mason, you can view the inner workings of the battery posted on YouTube. 
View of Battery Potter looking southeast. One gun is raised in the firing position. Gateway NRA/NPS Museum Collection Visit Battery Potter Battery Potter is open for tours Saturdays, May through August from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Meet a Ranger or volunteer to go inside this man made cave like structure. See where soldiers once manned the guns. Feel the damp conditions created by twenty foot thick walls of concrete. Learn what advances in machinery and building techniques made possible in the 1890s.
Want to know more about Battery Potter? Click here to read the Historic Structures Report on Battery Potter, Mortar Battery and Battery Gunnison.
Drawing of soldiers loading Battery Potter's gun.
NPS/Harpers Ferry Center Commissioned Artwork.
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Did You Know?
Did you know that the Sandy Hook Light was dimmed in World War II and painted in camoflague? Homes and businesses within five miles of the ocean were required to use blackout curtains in order to protect ships from attacks by German U-Boats. More...