Fort Stevens – Battery Russell
2012.09.30
Battery Russell was added in 1904 about a half mile southwest of the main complex at Fort Stevens. While the other batteries were mainly directed at the Columbia River, Battery Russell was built to face the Pacific Ocean, with two 10-inch disappearing guns.
Attack!
On June 21, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-25 slipped along the coast of Oregon, following fishing boats to avoid the minefields. Lieutenant Commander Meiji Tagami had been ordered to attack military targets on the American West Coast. Apparently his first objective was intented to be a U.S. Navy station at Tongue Point (on the Columbia River near Astoria); as it turns out, the station had first been constructed in 1924 but never used, and would not be re-opened until 1943.
Before reaching the mouth of the Columbia River, the I-25 stopped eight to ten miles offshore from Point Adams, and waited for the cover of night. Tagami’s crew readied their 140mm deck gun, but prepared for a quick escape.
At approximately 11:30 pm, the I-25 began to fire in the general direction of Battery Russell. Naturally this caused some alarm at Fort Stevens. Within minutes, the guns at Battery Russell were loaded and ready to fire. Captain Jack Wood, in charge of Battery Russell, had fixed his crosshairs on the gun flashes, and waited for the command to return fire.
The responsibility to make that call fell to Major Robert Huston, the senior officer on duty that night. Major Huston ordered all batteries to stand down; no return fire and no searchlights. Fort Stevens commanding officer Colonel Carl Doney, who had been asleep when the attack began, later agreed with this decision.
In the space of about fifteen minutes, the I-25 fired seventeen shells. Tagami then ordered the crew below, and they headed west. The shells left craters on the beach and shell fragments around Battery Russell. One shell smashed into the backstop of a baseball diamond. Some sources say a power line was hit, others say telephone lines. Either way, the damage was negligible.
The attack became front-page news across the country. It helped fuel public and military fears of further bombardments, if not outright invasion, on the West Coast. There remains some debate about whether or not the I-25 was within range of the decades-old guns at Fort Stevens. Regardless, the decision was made to build the new Battery 245 with up-to-date guns capable of hitting targets fifteen miles away. Battery Russell was subsequently deactivated in 1944.
F.S. Command Stations