UNITED STATES ARMY

23rd COAST ARTILLERY BATTALION (HARBOR DEFENSE) (TYPE D) BATTERY GUIDONS  •  1941

Coast artillery regiments designated Harbor Defense were configured to man the fixed gun batteries of ports and naval bases both in the continental United States and its overseas territories. As such they were static units, permanently assigned to harbor defense commands. There were three standard organizations for these regiments, designated Type A (three battalions), Type B (two battalions), and Type C (four battalions), to accommodate the manning requirements of the gun batteries. Type D was a seperate battalion for assignment to smaller installations. All battalions had three firing batteries whose internal organization varied based on the type and number of guns to be manned. Types A through C had a separate searchlight battery, while Type D had only a searchlight platoon attached to the battalion headquarters battery On 7 December 1941, the 23rd Coast Artillery Battalion was assigned to the 1st Coast Artillery District, Harbor Defenses of New Bedford (Massachusetts), First Army/Northeastern Defense Command. The 23rd CA manned Fort Rodman, which embodied a total of 2 x 12in guns, 2 x 8in guns, 4 x 155mm guns (GPF), and 12 x caliber .50 machine guns on AA mounts. When the Army adopted the flexible group organization in mid-1943, some though not all CA regiments were reorganized accordingly. Their regimental headquarters and headquarters batteries became separate group HHBs and their subordinate battalions were renumbered as separate battalions.

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