Fort Miles

Fort Miles
Part of Harbor Defenses of the Delaware
Sussex County, Delaware
TypeFortification
Site information
OwnerPublic - State of Delaware
Controlled byCape Henlopen State Park
Open to
the public		Yes
Websitehttps://fortmilesmuseum.org/
Site history
Built1940–1942
Built byU.S. Army Corps of Engineers
In use1942–1991
MaterialsReinforced concrete, earth
Battles/warsWorld War II
Garrison information
Garrison
Fort Miles Historic District
Battery 519 at Fort Miles, Circa 1973
Fort Miles is located in Delaware
Fort Miles
Fort Miles is located in the United States
Fort Miles
LocationCape Henlopen State Park, Sussex County, Delaware, USA
Nearest cityLewes, Delaware
Coordinates38°46′50″N 75°05′30″W / 38.78056°N 75.09167°W / 38.78056; -75.09167
Built1940
NRHP reference No.04001076[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 30, 2004
View of Fort Miles from Tower 7, which was one of the many fire control towers.
Restored World War II observation tower.
12-inch (305 mm) gun at Battery 519.
16-inch (406 mm) gun at Fort Miles in 2015.
8-inch (203 mm) railway gun converted to 9.12-inch (232 mm) experimental gun.
U-858 after her surrender in May 1945

Fort Miles was a United States Army World War II installation located on Cape Henlopen near Lewes, Delaware. Although funds to build the fort were approved in 1934, it was 1938 before construction began on the fort. On 3 June 1941 it was named for Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles.[2]

As the primary fort of the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware, it was built to defend Delaware Bay and the Delaware River and to protect domestic shipping from enemy fire between Cape May and Cape Henlopen, particularly from the German surface fleet. The fort also operated a controlled underwater minefield to prevent ships entering the Delaware River estuary.[3] One of these mines was revealed following 2016 Hurricane Hermine by local Cape Henlopen state park staff. The sea mine and anchor were archaeologically conserved.[4]

By 1950 the Army's coast defense role had been transferred to the Navy and coastal artillery defenses were obsolete with the fort becoming surplus. The Army continued to use portions and in 1962 the Navy established Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Lewes, a Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) shore terminal there to replace the one at Cape May across the bay in New Jersey that was damaged in a storm. The NAVFAC was in commission 1 May 1962 to 30 September 1981. The headquarters building now houses the Biden Environmental Conference Center.

The fort is now Cape Henlopen State Park.

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ Fort Miles at FortWiki.com
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MilesMines1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Rardin, Heather (September 2019). "A Dynamite Find: A World War II M2 Sea Mine and Anchor". Maryland Department of Planning, Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory.