| Fort Wool | |
|---|---|
| Part of Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay 1905–1945 | |
| Rip Raps island between Willoughby Spit and Old Point Comfort, Virginia | |
 Fort Wool | |
| Type | Sea fort |
| Site information | |
| Owner |
|
| Controlled by |
|
| Open to the public | No |
Fort Wool | |
   | |
| Location | Rip Raps island between Willoughby Spit and Old Point Comfort, Hampton, Virginia |
| Coordinates | 36°59′12″N 76°18′04″W / 36.98667°N 76.30111°W |
| Area | 15 acres (6.1 ha) |
| Built | 1819 |
| Architect | Simon Bernard |
| NRHP reference No. | 69000339[1] |
| VLR No. | 114-0041 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 25, 1969 |
| Designated VLR | November 5, 1968[2] |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1818–1861 |
| Built by | United States Army Corps of Engineers |
| In use | 1861–present |
| Materials | Stone |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War World War I World War II |
Fort Wool is a decommissioned island fortification located in the mouth of Hampton Roads, adjacent to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT). Officially known as Rip Raps Island, the fort has an elevation of 7 feet and sits near Old Point Comfort, Old Point Comfort Light, Willoughby Beach and Willoughby Spit, approximately one mile south of Fort Monroe.
Originally named Castle Calhoun or Fort Calhoun[3] after Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, the fort was renamed after Maj. Gen. John Ellis Wool on 18 March 1862 during the American Civil War.[4] It is noted on current nautical maps as "Rip Raps"[5] and was sometimes referred to by that name during the Civil War.[4]
Fort Wool was one of more than 40 forts developed after the War of 1812, when British forces sailed the Chesapeake Bay to burn the Capital.[6] This program was later known as the third system of U.S. fortifications. Designed by Brigadier General of Engineers Simon Bernard, an expatriate Frenchman who had served as a general of engineers under Napoleon, Fort Wool was constructed on a shoal of ballast stones dumped as sailing ships entered Hampton's harbor and was originally intended to have three tiers of casemates and a barbette tier with 216 muzzle-loading cannon, although it never reached this size. Only two-thirds of the fort's bottom two tiers were completed.[7] Fort Wool was built to maintain a crossfire with Fort Monroe, located directly across the channel, thereby protecting the entrance to the harbor.[8]
In 1902, as a result of the Endicott Board's findings,[9] all of the original fort, except for eight casemates at the west end, was demolished and new fortifications were constructed. The new armament, mounted in three batteries of two 6-inch (152 mm) guns each, plus two batteries totaling six 3-inch (76 mm) guns, remained in place for decades, with modifications made from time to time.[10] Only the six original three-inch guns remained in 1942, when two were sent to nearby Fort John Custis on Fisherman Island. A modern battery of two new long-range six-inch guns was constructed over one of the old Endicott period batteries during World War II but was never armed. The fort was decommissioned by the military in 1953.[11]
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Hampton Roads forts at American Forts Network
- ^ a b The Civil War in Hampton Roads: Fort Wool at Battlefields.org
- ^ Riprap is a name for rocks used as an embankment to reinforce shorelines.
- ^ "Simon Bernard and America's Coastal Forts". National Park Service. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ Weaver II, John R. (2018). A Legacy in Brick and Stone: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816-1867, 2nd Ed. McLean, VA: Redoubt Press. pp. 186–190. ISBN 978-1-7323916-1-1.
- ^ Permanent Fortifications and Sea-Coast Defenses April 23, 1862. pp 330-345 37th Congress, 2nd Session Report No. 86. 1862. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ "Endicott board's report" (PDF). Coast Defense Study Group (CDSG). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay Armament". Coast Defense Study Group. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Fort Wool National Register Nomination" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 28 July 2011.