Place

Fire Control Station (Battery Humphreys)

Structured made from two rounded, sandy-colored sections rises from a dusty-colored asphalt path.
Fire Control Station bunker for the two 6" coastal artillery guns of Battery Humphreys.

NPS Photo / T. Jordan

Quick Facts
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No

Wheelchair Accessible

History

This fire control station bunker was built during World War II as part of the complex for Battery Humphreys. The upper bunker served the command post for the battery while the lower bunker was an observation posts used to triangulate firing solutions for its two 6-inch guns, which were located further south on Point Loma. Soldiers here spent their days and nights observing the ocean, practicing firing drills, and biding their time for an attack from Imperial Japan that, fortunately, never came.

One of Battery Humphreys guns was the site of the only accident in San Diego’s World War II coastal defense history. On January 29, 1943 a faulty fuse led to an explosion that killed 5 men, injured 7, and damaged the gun mount. The blast was strong enough that it evidently broke windows by the new Point Loma Lighthouse at the bottom of the hill.

San Diego has had coastal defenses in some form or another, nearly since its inception. The earliest fort arrived with the construction of El Castillo de San Joaquin near modern-day Ballast Point, in 1798. Since then, there has been a long tradition of defending San Diego’s harbor with fortified gun emplacements. Battery Humphreys was in operation from 1942 until 1946, when the age of nuclear weapons rendered traditional coastal artillery defenses obsolete.

Did You Know?

  • Each gun at Battery Humphreys weighed approximately 100,000 lbs. (45,359 kg). They each sported a 25-foot (7.6 m) long barrel, had a 9-15 mile (14-24km) range, and fired 105 lb (48 kg) projectiles at 2,800 feet (853 meters) per second. Imagine a projectile the weight of a baby hippopotamus traveling at nearly 2.5x the speed of sound!
  • The gun battery was named for Captain Charles Humphreys, first commanding officer of Fort Rosecrans.
  • If you look down the hill from the viewing area in front of this fire control staiton, you may see the back side of another bunker, similar to this one. This bunker's two tiers contained observation posts tor two other 6-inch gun emplcements, Battery Woodward (upper level) and Battery Grant (lower level). 

Learn More

Military History and Coastal Defense
The Guns of San Diego - Historic Resource Study

Access

The interior of this building is closed to the public. Paved walking paths offer wheelchair accessible views of the exterior of the building.

Please stay on the path and DO NOT CLIMB ON THE BUNKER.

Cabrillo National Monument

Tags

Last updated: January 22, 2021