Last updated: May 17, 2022
Place
Battery Alexander Interpretive wayside
Linda Coldiron
Battery Alexander, fully armed by 1906, mounted eight 12-inch mortars designed to fire shells in a high arc—and then down onto the decks of enemy battleships. Low-trajectory gunfire from nearby batteries, aimed close to the enemy’s waterline, would have joined Battery Alexander’s mortar fire.
Battery Alexander: Raining fire from the sky AD
WAYSIDE TITLE: Battery Alexander: Raining fire from the sky
VIEW FROM WAYSIDE: You are directly overlooking Battery Alexander. The battery is positioned at the base of a slightly receding slope. Beyond that, the landscape is dotted with a series of trees.
Directly behind you is the Nike Missile Site SF88, a cold-war era defense system. A chain length fence surrounds this historic military installation. Large hill formations can be seen in the distance.
To your left is Field’s Road. Immediately beyond the road, a hilly landscape with a moderate incline is interspersed with low brush and is dotted with coniferous tress.
To your right, a slopped meadow landscape descends to the valley floor below culminating in Rodeo Lagoon. Fort Cronkite, which was originally an army base but is now utilized by National Park Service, lies beyond that. Hill formations can be seen in the distance.
TEXT: Battery Alexander, fully armed by 1906, mounted eight 12-inch mortars designed to fire shells in a high arc—and then down onto the decks of enemy battleships. Low-trajectory gunfire from nearby batteries, aimed close to the enemy’s waterline, would have joined Battery Alexander’s mortar fire.
Because it was believed that mortars were less accurate than guns, all the mortars in a pit or an entire battery, would fire at an enemy battleship at the same time. However, by 1918, during World War I, it had become clear that these massive weapons were more accurate than had been expected, and two mortars were removed from each of Battery Alexander’s two pits. Battery Alexander remained a four-mortar operation until 1943, when the new era of aerial attack rendered it obsolete.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower left, a diagram displays Nike Missile sites in the region, including San Rafael SF-93, Marin Headlands, SF-87, SF-88, Angel Island SF-91, Wildcat Peak, SF-08/09
CAPTION: Mortars fires shells at a high angle so they would fall on decks, penetrate, and explode inside targeted ships.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the top center, a photograph of soldiers preparing and firing mortars.
CAPTION: Battery Alexander’s mortars weighed 59 tons and had a range of 8 ½ miles. The concussion they produced was so powerful that unprepared crew members could be knocked off their feet. The soldier at the right had just pulled a lanyard to fire the mortar.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower center, a photograph of switchboard and plotting crews process data used to aim the mortars.
CAPTION: In rooms at the far end of the battery, switchboard and plotting crews worked closely together. The switchboard operators received data from lookout posts located in key spots north and south of the battery—information about the enemy’s location, rate of travel, and course. The plotting crews used the data to aim the mortars.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower center-right, a diagram shows the floor plan of Battery Alexander. Diagram shows floor plan of Plotting & Switchboard Rooms, Mortar Pit #1 Powder Magazine, Shell Magazine, Powder Magazine, and Mortar Pit #2.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: Right panel section map showing military and battery sites.
Guns and mortars
CAPTION: Map of historic gun batteries near here.
TEXT: Strategically designed to contribute a combination of firepower to San Francisco’s harbor defenses. Fort Barry’s Endicott Period (1885-1905) batteries were mounted with mortars, big guns, and smaller rapid-fire guns: Battery Alexander—eight 12-inch mortars, Battery Mendell—Two 12-inch disappearing guns, Battery Smith-Guthrie—Four 6-inch rapid fire guns, Battery O’Rorke—four 3-inch rapid-fire guns.
Battery Alexander: Raining fire from the sky AD
WAYSIDE TITLE: Battery Alexander: Raining fire from the sky
VIEW FROM WAYSIDE: You are directly overlooking Battery Alexander. The battery is positioned at the base of a slightly receding slope. Beyond that, the landscape is dotted with a series of trees.
Directly behind you is the Nike Missile Site SF88, a cold-war era defense system. A chain length fence surrounds this historic military installation. Large hill formations can be seen in the distance.
To your left is Field’s Road. Immediately beyond the road, a hilly landscape with a moderate incline is interspersed with low brush and is dotted with coniferous tress.
To your right, a slopped meadow landscape descends to the valley floor below culminating in Rodeo Lagoon. Fort Cronkite, which was originally an army base but is now utilized by National Park Service, lies beyond that. Hill formations can be seen in the distance.
TEXT: Battery Alexander, fully armed by 1906, mounted eight 12-inch mortars designed to fire shells in a high arc—and then down onto the decks of enemy battleships. Low-trajectory gunfire from nearby batteries, aimed close to the enemy’s waterline, would have joined Battery Alexander’s mortar fire.
Because it was believed that mortars were less accurate than guns, all the mortars in a pit or an entire battery, would fire at an enemy battleship at the same time. However, by 1918, during World War I, it had become clear that these massive weapons were more accurate than had been expected, and two mortars were removed from each of Battery Alexander’s two pits. Battery Alexander remained a four-mortar operation until 1943, when the new era of aerial attack rendered it obsolete.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower left, a diagram displays Nike Missile sites in the region, including San Rafael SF-93, Marin Headlands, SF-87, SF-88, Angel Island SF-91, Wildcat Peak, SF-08/09
CAPTION: Mortars fires shells at a high angle so they would fall on decks, penetrate, and explode inside targeted ships.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the top center, a photograph of soldiers preparing and firing mortars.
CAPTION: Battery Alexander’s mortars weighed 59 tons and had a range of 8 ½ miles. The concussion they produced was so powerful that unprepared crew members could be knocked off their feet. The soldier at the right had just pulled a lanyard to fire the mortar.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower center, a photograph of switchboard and plotting crews process data used to aim the mortars.
CAPTION: In rooms at the far end of the battery, switchboard and plotting crews worked closely together. The switchboard operators received data from lookout posts located in key spots north and south of the battery—information about the enemy’s location, rate of travel, and course. The plotting crews used the data to aim the mortars.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower center-right, a diagram shows the floor plan of Battery Alexander. Diagram shows floor plan of Plotting & Switchboard Rooms, Mortar Pit #1 Powder Magazine, Shell Magazine, Powder Magazine, and Mortar Pit #2.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: Right panel section map showing military and battery sites.
Guns and mortars
CAPTION: Map of historic gun batteries near here.
TEXT: Strategically designed to contribute a combination of firepower to San Francisco’s harbor defenses. Fort Barry’s Endicott Period (1885-1905) batteries were mounted with mortars, big guns, and smaller rapid-fire guns: Battery Alexander—eight 12-inch mortars, Battery Mendell—Two 12-inch disappearing guns, Battery Smith-Guthrie—Four 6-inch rapid fire guns, Battery O’Rorke—four 3-inch rapid-fire guns.