Fort Willoughby - St. Thomas U.S.V.I. - Military Installations on Waymarking.com

Fort Willoughby formerly Prince Frederik's Battery was built by the Danish West Indies 1770 to 1780. It defended the port from colonial rivals and privateers. Later it was taken over by the British and renamed Fort Willoughby. A local told us that a chain was stretched across to the island and pulled tight to snag the rudder of enemy ships entering the harbor. I didn't find anything that backed up that story. But I did read there was an anti-submarine net employed here during WW II. This is now a subset of the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park.

The document at the link below offers a detailed history

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"(1779 - 1790's, 1801 - 1802, 1807 - 1815), Hassel Island, St. Thomas
British works were located on Hassel Island in St. Thomas Harbor during a brief occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, when Denmark was allied with France. These were Fort Willoughby at Magens (or Frederik) Point, Cowell's Battery at Cowell's Point, and Fort Shipley (aka Shipley's Battery) on the highest point on the north side of the island. Barracks, magazines, a hospital, and other support buildings were also constructed. Fort Willoughby was located on the site of an earlier Danish fort named Fort Frederik (3) (or Prince Frederik Battery) (1779). Cowell's Battery was later used as a signal station for St. Thomas Harbor until the 1960's. Also on the island are ruins of a drydock once used by the Royal Navy, and a commercial marine railway and a coal and oil depot (1840 - 1960's). The island is accessible by passenger ferry. The "island" was created in 1860-65 by the Danish government by excavating out the narrow isthmus that connected the former peninsula to the mainland, and the channel was further widened in 1919 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The U.S. Navy had a naval station at Careening Cove from 1917 - 1931, reactivated 1941 - 1947 (several old buildings still extant). The island has been administered by the NPS since 1978 as a subunit of the Virgin Islands National Park. Preservation efforts began in 2007. See also Island Attractions from See St. John.com " source

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Era: Pre-Napoleonic General Comments: Related web site: [Web Link]

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