April 2011
Fort Miles is a historic Army base at in what is now Cape Henlopen State Park in southern Delaware. The fort consists of 15 observation towers (11 in Delaware, 4 in New Jersey), 10 gun batteries and other support structures such as barracks, etc. It was built during World War II to defend the mouth of the Delaware Bay from German ships and U-boats that might want to do harm to the vital ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia. This facility holds a special interest for me because the people who assessed incoming vessels and decided whether the Army should blow them out of the water were US Navy sailors. One of those sailors on watch in Fire Control Tower #9 was my grandfather. While visiting Cape Henlopen we were lucky enough to be there on a day when the facilities were open for tours. We climbed tower #7 and toured gun battery 519. We also watched as reenactors acted out a battle with the Germans that thankfully never really took place at Fort Miles.
