Battery Townsley

Battery Townsley sits above Fort Cronkhite in the Marin Headlands

Quick Facts

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Scenic View/Photo Spot

Battery Townsley is located 0.5 miles up from the Fort Cronkhite parking lot near Rodeo Beach. The walk up to the battery is strenuous so please allow at least 45 minutes. It's well worth it for the history lesson and views of Rodeo Beach and the Pacific Ocean.


Battery Townsley is one of only two WWII era batteries in the San Francisco area that contained mammoth 16-inch guns. The other is located at Fort Funston, also in the park. Together these guns protected an area from Half Moon Bay to Point Reyes, effectively covering the entire sea approach to San Francisco.


The army installed these big naval guns to match those on battleships sailing the Pacific in the late 1930s. In the year following Pearl Harbor, 150 men lived inside this cavernous fortress twenty-four seven. Today you can visit the exhibits inside during open hours. It's a steep climb up the road to Battery Townsley, but worth it for the history lesson and views of Rodeo Beach and the Pacific Ocean.

The Zenith of American Military Technology

This battery, named in honor of WWI Major General Clarence P. Townsley, represented the zenith of American military technology and became the prototype for subsequent coastal defense batteries. As early as 1915, the army considered mounting the 16-inch guns to protect San Francisco, and by 1928, the War Department made the decision to construct two batteries, one on each side of the Golden Gate straits. Battery Townsley at Fort Cronkhite in Marin was finished first, followed several months later by Battery Davis at Fort Funston.

16-inch Gun

16-inch guns were sixty-eight feet long and could fire a 2,000-pound projectile almost twenty-five miles. The gun tube posted here outside the battery was originally mounted in one of the forward gun turrets aboard the battleship USS Missouri and saw extensive action during World War II. It's identical to the two guns that were mounted here during World War II.

Obsolescence

The growing threat of long-range bombers and nuclear weapons made Battery Townsley obsolete at the end of World War II. Its long-range guns, designed to shoot at battleships far at sea, were useless against enemy aircraft. The big guns were scrapped in late 1948, and the battery converted to use as a warehouse, temporary barracks, and underground test facility. Sealed for many years, the National Park Service began restoration work in 2006. Work continues to this day, carried out by a group of dedicated Volunteers in Parks (VIPs).