Sandy Hook Proving Ground
- Sandy Hook Proving Ground
The Sandy Hook Proving Ground was a military facility, formally established by the Secretary of War on August 7, 1874, to serve as the United States Army's first proving ground for the testing of ordnance and materiel. The facility was located at Sandy Hook, a narrow coastal spit of land, approximately 6 miles in length and 0.5 miles (varying between 0.1 and 1 miles) wide, in Middletown Township in Monmouth County, along the Atlantic coast of eastern New Jersey. The facility was operated in conjunction with the adjoining Fort Hancock.
The Sandy Hook Peninsula met the army's needs for an experimental testing area for heavy ordnance and was on land that was already government owned. After its formal establishment on August 7, 1874, it was nearly two years before facilities were completed that allowed staffing and testing to reach its potential. Because of the period of time involved, the bulk of the weaponry designed, built and installed for coastal defense under both the Taft and Endicott Commissions was tested at Sandy Hook.
A dual military command existed with The Sandy Hook Proving Ground - contained within the site of Fort Hancock - continuing to test ordnance equipment while the Coast Artillery Corps took over the harbor defense mission of the New York Harbor. The Sandy Hook Proving Ground continued its operations as a weapons test site until 1919 when the testing was moved to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland. That change occurred out of necessity driven by the fact that the "down-range" area at Sandy Hook could no longer contain the ever-increasing range of larger and more powerful weapons. Early steps toward this action came in 1917 when the US Army began to acquire land along the Maryland shore.
External links
* [http://www.thefortatsandyhook.net/provground.asp Sandy Hook Proving Ground]
* [http://www.nps.gov/gate/shu/shu_history.htm National Park Service: History of the Sandy Hook Unit]
* [http://www.geocities.com/nycforts/SandyHook.html Sandy Hook Proving Ground / Fort Hancock pictures]
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District — Infobox nrhp | name =Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District nrhp type = nhld caption = location= NJ 36, Fort Hancock and vicinity, New Jersey lat degrees = 40 lat minutes = 26 lat seconds = 41 lat direction = N long… … Wikipedia
Sandy Hook — is a barrier peninsula, approximately 9.7 kilometers (between 6 and 7 miles) in length and 800 meters (0.5 miles) (varying between 0.10 and 1 miles) wide, in Middletown Township [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Sandy Hook … Wikipedia
Proving ground — For other uses, see Proving ground (disambiguation). Contents 1 Military and Government 1.1 Canada 1.2 United States … Wikipedia
Aberdeen Proving Ground — (APG) is a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen, Maryland (in Harford County). Part of the facility is a census designated place (CDP), which had a population of 3,116 at the 2000 census.The Army s oldest active proving ground, it… … Wikipedia
Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook — Gunnison Beach located in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, is part of the Sandy Hook unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and is managed by the National Park Service. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors=… … Wikipedia
National Register of Historic Places listings in Monmouth County, New Jersey — List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Monmouth County, New Jersey Contents: Counties in New Jersey Atlantic Bergen Burlington Camden Cape May Cumberland Essex Gloucester Hudson Hunterdon Mercer Middlesex Monmouth… … Wikipedia
List of Nike missile locations — Nike Missile family, From left, MIM 3 Nike Ajax, MIM 14 Nike Hercules, LIM 49 Nike Zeus. Map of all coordinates from Google … Wikipedia
Fort Hancock, New Jersey — Infobox nrhp | name =Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District nrhp type = nhld caption = Fort Hancock Memorial Park location= Sandy Hook, New Jersey locmapin = New Jersey area = built =1859 architect= US Army architecture … Wikipedia
Ordnance Corps (United States Army) — For other uses, see Ordnance Corps (disambiguation). Not to be confused with United States Army Test and Evaluation Command. U.S. Army Ordnance Corps United St … Wikipedia
Gardner gun — The Gardner gun was an early type of machine gun. It had one or two barrels, was fed from a vertical magazine or hopper and was operated by a crank. When the crank was turned, a feed arm positioned a cartridge in the breech, the bolt closed and… … Wikipedia
