Weekend (March 6/7, 2021) THE HARBOR HAS BEEN A PLACE OF CONFLICT FOR CENTURIES

By admin

304th Edition

WEEKEND EDITION

MARCH 6 -7,  2021

THE BATTLES OF
NEW YORK 
HARBOR

BY  STEPHEN BLANK

The Battles of New York Harbor

Stephen Blank

New York City is built around one of the world’s greatest harbors. Over the years, many forts have protected the harbor from invasion. But feared invasions never took place and few shots were fired, not that is after the war of the Revolution. However, a great sea battle did take place just off the coast.

There’s an ongoing theme here: A threat is identified, plans are prepared, and implementation is slow (budget problems and conflict among authorities). By the time construction is (and if) completed, it is often outdated.

To learn more, read on.

The Dutch built a fort to protect their settlement but in 1664 when an English expedition demanded the colony’s surrender, Governor Peter Stuyvesant felt the colony wasn’t able to defend itself. Stuyvesant regretted that his requests for troops and defensive resources from the Dutch West India Company had not been met, though some folks feel that the Dutch leaders, including the Governor’s son, were reluctant to engage in a battle that would damage their community. On September 8, Stuyvesant surrendered New Netherland to the English. Still, battle or not, the Dutch would continue to run much of the city and the Hudson Valley.

Critical fighting took place around New York during the American Revolution. When the British left Boston, it was clear that they would soon invade New York City. In June and July 1776, Washington’s troops hastily constructed many forts, on the east shore of the East River, in the city and Fort Washington in northwestern Manhattan and Fort Constitution (later Fort Lee) across the Hudson in the town later named for it. Both forts were just south of the George Washington Bridge. A barrier was placed in the Hudson between the two forts to prevent ships passing.

The story of the battles of Long Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the retreat to New Jersey are fascinating and illustrate the desperate conditions the Revolutionary forces faced in the early days of the war. No significant action took place in the harbor, but of interest to this tale, from very large to very small:

• At its peak, the British fleet numbered over 400 ships, including 73 war ships. It delivered 32,000 troops to Staten Island. This was one of the largest fleets in history.

• On September 6, the submarine Turtle made the first recorded submarine attack in history in New York Harbor. This one-man hand-powered submarine had been built the previous year by David Bushnell, an inventor from Connecticut. Turtle was equipped to attach a bomb to a ship, but the mission failed.

British Landing, Kip’s Bay, September 15, 1776
patriottoursnyc.com/the-battle-of-new-york/

After the war, the U.S. government launched a massive fortification building program around the Harbor. Dr. Thomas W. Matteo, Staten Island Historian, provides more detail: “For the most part, the defense of New York’s harbor was left to the State government and its governor, Daniel Tompkins… At the outset of hostilities, he personally oversaw the defense of New York. After turning down a Cabinet appointment, Tompkins was appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Third Military District by President Madison in October 1814. Tompkins appointed several aids-de-camp including Washington Irving. Also serving under his command was a young officer by the name of Ichabod Crane.

By 1814, New York City was defended by 900 pieces of artillery and 25,500 men. This is probably why the citizens did not panic when five British war vessels were spotted off the coast of Sandy Hook on August 18th, 1814. They never came any closer.”

One fort is of particular interest to us Islanders: Hell Gate, connecting the East River with Long Island Sound and the Harlem River, was protected by a fortification constructed on a small island in the middle of the waterway. It was designed to defend against any back door penetration of the harbor from Long Island Sound.

These forts would have provided an impressive defense of the harbor during the War of 1812, but were never used and obsolete in a few years.

 Castle Clinton  Courtesy Museum of the City of New York

After the war, a new series of larger forts on the Atlantic Coast was proposed, but funding was slow, and most were not begun until the 1830s. New York received six major forts under this program; initial plans for the latter four of these are said to have been drawn up by Robert E. Lee during when he was post engineer at Fort Hamilton in the 1840s. When war broke out in 1861, much of this construction was still incomplete and several forts were still unfinished in 1867.

Another major building study was begun in 1885 for a replacement of existing coast defenses. Most of its recommendations were adopted, and construction began in 1890 on new batteries and controlled minefields to defend New York City. Plans were elaborate and involved the most advanced weaponry. But when the Spanish–American War broke out in early 1898, most of the new batteries were still years from completion, and it was feared the Spanish fleet would bombard the US east coast

Again, concern heightened as the European War opened (and some New Yorkers feared a German invasion). New harbor defenses were constructed but many of its large weapons were removed and transferred to the European theater when the US entered the war. During the War and in the interwar period, major changes were made in the organization of coastal defense and new weaponry introduced (and removed).

10-inch disappearing gun at Battery Granger, Fort Hancock, New Jersey Wikipedia

After the Fall of France in 1940 the Army decided to up gun all existing heavy coast defense guns to protect against attack by sea and air. But this was never a threat. Instead, during the winter of 1941-42, the greatest battle in the sea around New York took place.

When Germany declared war on the US (the day after Pearl Harbor) our east coast offered easy pickings for German U-boats. These months were known among German submariners as the “American Shooting Season” when their submarines attacked merchant shipping and Allied naval vessels along the east coast. From February to May 1942, 348 ships were sunk, for the loss of two U-boats. The cumulative effect of this campaign was severe; a quarter of all wartime sinkings – 3.1 million tons and the eradication of much of the US coastal shipping fleet.

My father who was stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia at this time said that he and my mother could see from the shore ships blazing after being torpedoed. I can’t verify the story, but it’s not impossible. Sinkings were a nightly occurrence.

Several reasons for this disaster. The American naval commander, Admiral Ernest King, as an apparent anglophobe, was averse to taking British recommendations to introduce convoys, US Coast Guard and Navy patrols were predictable and could be avoided by U-boats, inter-service co-operation was poor, and the US Navy did not possess enough suitable escort vessels. Without coastal blackouts, shipping was silhouetted against the bright lights of American towns and cities such as Atlantic City until a dim-out was ordered in May.

The dim-out was less severe than a blackout. Times Square’s neon advertising went dark. Office buildings and apartment houses had to veil windows more than 15 stories high. Stores, restaurants and bars toned down their exterior lighting. Streetlights and traffic signals had their wattage reduced, and automobile headlights were hooded. Night baseball was banned in the war’s early years at the Dodgers’ Ebbets Field and the Giants’ Polo Grounds. (Yankee Stadium did not yet have lights.) The Statue of Liberty’s torch did not glow.

No New Yorkers actually saw a German U-Boat. The wonderful scene in Woody Allen’s Radio Days when the boys see a U-Boat surface close off a Brooklyn beach never occurred, But a U-boat did land a team of four saboteurs at Amagansett, Long Island on June 13, 1942 (and another four landed in Ponte Vedra, Florida on June 16, 1942), armed with explosives and plans to destroy factories, bridges, tunnels, powerplants and waterworks. One member of the group that landed eventually turned himself over to the FBI and confessed the entire story. All eight saboteurs were arrested and six were executed in Washington D.C. on August 8, 1942.

One other WWII New York harbor story: After the French liner SS Normandie (renamed USS Lafayette as a US troop carrier) burned at dock, fear of sabotage soared. The Navy reached out to well-known Mafia boss Lucky Luciano then serving a 30-50 year sentence for compulsory prostitution at the Clinton Prison facility. The Navy offered him a deal; a reduction of his sentence for information and assistance in their operation. Luciano agreed. Luciano ordered that any suspicious activity along the docks and waterfronts be reported to the authorities. Luciano also apparently guaranteed that there would be no strikes among the dock workers.

Keep warm. Keep safe. Get your vaccination.
Stephen Blank RIHS

WEEKEND PHOTO

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FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

I PHOTOGRAPHED THIS ARTPIECE AT SOUTH STREET

The Downtown Alliance is taking over Water Street this month with two new art installations enriching the street’s scenery.
February 28, 2021 Sources

Designer studio Hou de Sousa’s “Ziggy” at 200 Water Street brilliantly combines steel structure and vibrant lights with cords, and FANTÁSTICA’s “Out-of-Office” transfers the workspace environment to an outdoor setting, seemingly responding to the current time as people are no longer commuting to offices for work due to the pandemic.These artwork are lit at night in brilliant colors.

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by  Deborah Dorff
Roosevelt Island Historical Society

Wikipedia
https://www.wcny.org/education/war-of-1812/the-fortification-of-new-york-harbor/
https://www.quora.com/Were-there-any-German-subs-in-the-NY-harbor-during-WW2
https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/answers-about-world-war-ii-in-new-york-part-
https://www.quora.com/Were-there-any-German-subs-in-the-NY-harbor-during-WW2

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