7th Coast Artillery Regiment

7th Coast Artillery Regiment
Unit name	7th Coast Artillery Regiment
Dates	1918–1944
Country	United States
Branch	Coast Artillery Corps
Role	Harbor defense, coastal artillery
Size	Regiment
Garrison	Fort Adams, Rhode Island; Fort Rodman, Massachusetts
Notable commanders	Brigadier General Leonard Wood; Colonel John L. Hines

7th Coast Artillery Regiment was a United States Army coastal defense unit organized during World War I and active through World War II, charged with manning heavy artillery for harbor defenses along the North Atlantic seaboard, including strategic installations at Newport and New Bedford, working alongside components of the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay and Harbor Defenses of New Bedford. The regiment operated in coordination with units and commands such as the Coast Artillery Corps (United States), Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay, Harbor Defenses of New Bedford, and higher echelons including First United States Army and Eastern Defense Command during mobilizations influenced by events like the Washington Naval Treaty and the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

History

Organized in 1918 amid the mobilization driven by World War I and the Selective Service Act of 1917, the regiment's initial formation drew personnel from training centers at Fort Monroe and Fort Moultrie before assignment to Atlantic seaboard defenses such as Fort Adams and Fort Rodman. Between the wars the regiment was reshaped by policies from the National Defense Act of 1920 and doctrinal changes within the Coast Artillery Corps (United States), interacting with institutions including the United States Army War College and the Ordnance Department (United States Army). Reactivated and expanded by mobilization after the Mobilization of the United States armed forces during World War II, the regiment participated in coastal readiness and local defense plans negotiated with units of the United States Navy, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and civilian agencies.

Organization and Lineage

The regiment followed lineage procedures promulgated by the War Department and later the Department of the Army, tracing battalion and battery redesignations that referenced predecessors in the Coast Artillery Corps (United States) and integrating personnel from Harbor Defense Commands. Elements of the regiment were constituted, organized, and redesignated under tables of organization influenced by directives from General Headquarters (United States Army) and administrative orders issued from Washington, D.C., with commanding officers drawn from graduates of the United States Military Academy and Coast Artillery School (Fort Monroe). The regiment's lineage intersected with units such as batteries transferred from Fort Wetherill and detachments previously assigned to Fort Taber.

World War II Service

During World War II, the regiment manned heavy guns and searchlights for harbor protection during periods of heightened threat after the Attack on Pearl Harbor and during the Battle of the Atlantic, coordinating surveillance with the United States Coast Guard and anti-submarine efforts involving the Atlantic Fleet (United States Navy). Units of the regiment responded to incidents involving U-boat activity and convoy protection measures instituted by the United States Navy and Convoy system (World War II), while participating in blackout drills and civil defense coordination with the Office of Civilian Defense. As doctrine evolved, regimental elements were subject to transfers and inactivation aligned with directives from the Army Ground Forces and reorganization plans implemented by the War Department General Staff.

Equipment and Armament

The regiment employed heavy coastal artillery pieces typical of Atlantic defenses, including seacoast guns such as 12-inch and 16-inch ex-Navy weapons emplaced on barbette carriages similar to those installed at Fort Monroe and Fort Andrews, along with 6-inch and 90 mm guns for medium and anti-motor torpedo boat defense as fielded elsewhere by the Coast Artillery Corps (United States). Fire-control installations used instruments and plotting equipment standardized by the Engineering Department (United States Army) and the Coast Artillery School (Fort Monroe), with radar and radio assets procured through coordination with the Signal Corps (United States Army) and the Naval Research Laboratory. Minefields and controlled mine installations were maintained under procedures developed jointly with the Bureau of Ordnance (United States Navy) and local harbor defense commands.

Stations and Fortifications

Primary garrisons included Fort Adams in Rhode Island and Fort Rodman (also called Fort Taber) in Massachusetts, with detachments serving at installations such as Fort Wetherill, Fort Standish, and ancillary sites around Narragansett Bay and the approaches to New Bedford Harbor. The regiment occupied casemated batteries, open emplacements, and fire control stations integrated into the regional network originally developed during the Endicott Program and expanded under the Taft Board (1905). Coordination with nearby coastal installations like Fort Greene (Rhode Island), Fort De Soto (Florida), and other Atlantic posts ensured overlapping fields of fire and logistic support via Navy piers and railroad connections.

Honors and Campaigns

Although primarily assigned to continental harbor defense and not deployed as an overseas combat regiment, personnel received campaign credit and unit recognition associated with the defensive posture during periods such as the American Theater (1939–1945) of World War II; individuals earned awards administered by the Department of the Army and commendations aligned with collaborative actions involving the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard. The regiment's service is recorded in departmental order narrations and unit histories preserved alongside records from the Coast Artillery Corps (United States) and regional harbor defense commands.

Disbandment and Legacy

In 1944 the regiment was disbanded during the broad reorganization that eliminated many coast artillery regiments in favor of artillery battalions and mobile anti-aircraft units, an administrative action driven by the Army Ground Forces and reflected in circulars issued by the War Department; assets and personnel were redistributed to battalions, harbor defense commands, and civil affairs units attached to First United States Army and Eastern Defense Command. Its legacy survives in preserved fortifications at Fort Adams State Park, museum collections held by the Newport Historical Society, and archival records in repositories such as the National Archives and Records Administration, informing scholarship at institutions like the United States Army Center of Military History and the Coast Defense Study Group.

Category:Coast artillery regiments of the United States Army Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944