NAHANT — Some North Shore residents might wonder about the history and purpose of the town’s military towers. Local historians explain that the towers — and this small municipality — played a vital role in the coastal defense of the US during World War II.
“Throughout the ages, humans have defended their villages from hostiles by posting lookouts in strategic areas. Nahant is no different,” said Executive Director of Nahant Historical Society Julie Tarmy.
According to Military Annals of Nahant, a book written by Gerald Butler, a retired captain in the Massachusetts State Guard, prior to America’s involvement in World War II, intelligence showed that Germany was developing long-range bombers that would be based in the Azores with the express function of bombing America’s coast.
For that end, on Sept. 25, 1940, the U.S. Secretary of War approved a secret modernization of coastal defenses. Nahant was already part of the coastal defense for the Boston Harbor, and following the declaration of war in 1941, plans were drawn up for the first fire control station in Nahant.
Thus, the first tower was constructed on Colby Hill in 1943. The first Nahant station, officially designated Location 130, Site 1-A, had a primary function to provide data for specific gun batteries within the Harbor Defenses of Boston.
All in all, Nahant has five fire control stations. U.S. Army personnel at the stations were on a lookout for approaching enemy aircraft, ships, and submarines. Equipment in these stations were EE-91 telephones, a time interval bell, and a depression position finder instrument.
“The assignment was to locate enemy planes and/or ships, determine their position through intricate plot finding, and make ready to fire upon them if needed,” said Tarmy.
By the end of the war no crafts of any type had been fired upon by the Nahant guns, in 1945 all observation details were canceled, and in 1946 the guns of Fort Ruckman were tested for the final time with a warning to the residents of Nahant issued via a Lynn newspaper to close the windows and protect fine China “from the percussive impact of the firing.”
In 1946, the Harbor Defenses of Boston were deactivated, and in March of 1951, the General Services Administration conveyed the Fort Ruckman Military Reservation to the Town of Nahant, and then the Cold War started.
In 1952, the Harris estate fire control station was reactivated. Its new purpose was for long-range air defense radar. A year later, a M33 radar and fire control system was installed in East Point and a new long-range radar was placed on top of the Harris tower. The Harris Estate tower was finally terminated in 1958 when that radar became outdated and the towers gradually became part of the town landscape.
“The towers have been around for my entire life. They are an important part of Nahant’s history,” said Tarmy.
She said that the view from the top of the Mifflin Estate tower was just spectacular, and the visitors could see for miles “even without Army issued spy glasses.”
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected].
