Sandy Hook Proving Ground

Proving Ground

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More than two decades before Fort Hancock was commissioned in 1895, the U.S. Ordnance Department tested new and experimental weapons at Sandy Hook.

What is a Proving Ground?

"Proving ground" is a term for a place where weapons can be tested. The Sandy Hook Proving Ground was established in 1874. Less than 10 years earlier, the Civil War had introduced several new innovations in weaponry. Rifled cannons fired pointed-nosed projectiles farther and faster than cannonballs. Iron clad warships mounted guns that could easily destroy the walls of a traditional fort. The Army needed a place to test its own new weapons.

Testing Weapons

New weapons, such as artillery shells, fuses, gun powders, and other ordnances could be tested on the proving grounds of Sandy Hook. The Army had to develop new cannons and ordnance because the American Civil War had introduced new rifled, breech-loading guns, along with new steam-powered warships made of iron. Following the Civil War, foreign countries began making bigger cannons and bigger and faster warships. To keep up with the world-wide arms race, the U.S. Army began creating larger, more powerful guns that could sink any warship.

Location

Owned by the federal government since 1817, Sandy Hook was chosen for a proving ground because it was located next to a large industrial area that had rail and water transportation, yet it was isolated enough that local people would not be hurt by ordnance testing. Also, the Hook's long, flat beaches and low sand dunes provided a clear field of fire for guns firing from North Beach down to targets set almost four miles down range near the south end of the Hook.

Development

The Army developed a wide variety of weapons at Sandy Hook that included rapid fire machine guns, field artillery, howitzers (guns mounted on wheeled carriages that could quickly follow infantry and cavalry across battlefields) and siege & coastal defense artillery. Gun calibers ranged from 1-inch caliber up to a giant 16-inch gun that the Army began testing in 1902. Gun testing started in 1874 and would continue for 45 years when, in 1919, the Sandy Hook Proving ground was closed and moved to a new proving ground in Aberdeen, Maryland.