You Can Explore Every Room of This 1904 Oregon Gun Battery That Faced Down Japanese Submarines in WWII

Battery Russell at Fort Stevens, Oregon

Battery Russell was built for a war that came right to Oregon’s doorstep. Soldiers lived in those concrete rooms, ate canned food, and stared at the ocean for three long years.

The enemy showed up exactly once, and the soldiers didn’t even get to fight back.

Here’s what happened at Battery Russell.

Arming a Civil War Fort with Gun Batteries

Fort Stevens began as a simple dirt fortification during the Civil War. Workers completed the earthwork fort in 1865, surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge.

The military named it for Isaac Stevens, Washington Territory’s first governor, killed at Chantilly in 1862.

Fort builders worried the British might attack from Canada if they joined the Confederate cause. The fort sat quiet for decades after the war ended.

Then in 1897, a nationwide program to strengthen coastal defenses transformed Fort Stevens with modern concrete gun batteries.

The Making of Battery Russell

Battery Russell took shape between March 1903 and August 1904 at Fort Stevens, Oregon, officially activated on August 12, 1904. It was one of nine concrete gun batteries constructed to guard the Columbia River.

The Army named it after David A. Russell, a Civil War general killed at Opequan, Virginia in 1864.

A Formidable Weapon

Two 10-inch rifles from Watervliet Arsenal dominated Battery Russell’s defenses.

These Model 1900 weapons sat on special carriages that could hide behind concrete walls between shots. Each gun fired 617-pound shells over nine miles using 182-pound powder charges.

The weapons required precise elevation settings: 69.76 feet for gun #1 and 69.82 feet for gun #2.

Running these giants demanded serious power during that time at 6.9 kilowatts for lights and 19.0 kilowatts for motors.

Every firing required 35 men working in perfect coordination to load, aim, and fire.

The Triangle of Fire

Battery Russell formed one point in the “Triangle of Fire” at the Columbia River mouth.

Congress authorized all three forts in February 1862 to protect the vital Columbia River, covering enemy ships with overlapping fire if they ever tried to enter this strategic waterway.

Fort Canby and Fort Columbia in Washington State completed this defensive network.

Battery Russell faced the open ocean, separate from the two. Its position near the highest dunes gave gunners clear views of both ocean and river approaches.

The Squirrelville Nickname

Before Pearl Harbor, soldiers rotated through Battery Russell every two weeks. They stayed in wooden housing isolated by a full mine from the main fort.

This separation earned the area its nickname: “Squirrelville,” and soldiers hated being station at this remote, uncomfortable outpost.

Serving Quietly for Decades

During the 1930s, Battery Russell mainly served as a training ground, since Fort Stevens weapons fired only during training or to honor visiting warships.

The 249th Coast Artillery Regiment of the Oregon National Guard practiced firing their massive guns here, while the 18th Coast Artillery Regiment shared duty with National Guard units.

Everything changed after December 7, 1941.

The Night the Japanese Attacked

The Pearl Harbor attack made Battery Russell suddenly vital, and the Army stationed full-time troops there for the first time.

On June 1 1942, Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced off the Oregon coast at 11:30 PM. Captain Tagami Meiji had already damaged the SS Connecticut earlier in his patrol.

The submarine positioned itself 6-10 miles offshore, just within range of Battery Russell. Gunners aboard the I-25 fired seventeen 5.5-inch shells toward the American fort.

The bombardment lasted 16-20 minutes before the submarine disappeared beneath the waves.

The Controversial Order

The regular commander, Colonel Irwin, was away that night.

Acting commander Lieutenant Colonel Robert Doney ordered his men not to return fire. He was worried that it would give away the exact position of their guns, and that the submarine would be out of range anyway.

American gunners nearly reached insubordination from their burning desire to shoot back at the enemy vessel.

Military historians believe Irwin would have ordered return fire had he been present.

Minimal Damage from the Japanese Subs

Most Japanese shells landed harmlessly in swamps and beaches. Witnesses counted between 9-14 explosions, though records show 17 shells fired. The attack damaged only a power line and the baseball backstop at Squirrelville.

One shell did land dangerously close to the Peter Iredale shipwreck on the nearby beach. One soldier suffered minor injury, cutting his head while rushing to battle stations.

Today, a stone monument marks where a 5-foot crater formed from one Japanese shell.

A Historic Attack

This marked the first foreign attack on a mainland U.S. military base since the War of 1812.

As a response, the U.S. Army Air Forces planes called in an A-29 Hudson bomber after spotting the I-25, which escaped underwater before the bomber could fire.

Three months later, the same I-25 returned to launch a floatplane that dropped incendiary bombs on Oregon forests. After the attack, workers strung barbed wire along beaches and through the Peter Iredale wreck.

Civilian volunteers began patrolling the entire Oregon coast, bringing the distant war home.

The End of an Era for Battery Russell

Battery Russell fired its last rounds during a closing ceremony on December 29, 1944. Advances in aircraft and missiles had made coastal forts obsolete at this point.

The Army replaced it with Battery 245, equipped with 6-inch rifles reaching 15 miles—nearly double Battery Russell’s range.

Fort Stevens received full decommissioning in 1947. Workers removed all guns, and the Army transferred the property to the Corps of Engineers.

Visiting Battery Russell

Battery Russell sits inside Fort Stevens State Park, 15 minutes west of Astoria, Oregon. From Highway 101, follow signs to Fort Stevens and Battery Russell.

The park requires a $5 daily parking permit or $30 annual pass, purchased at entrance booths or self-serve stations.

Battery Russell opens daily from 8am to 4pm year-round.

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