Editing Fort Wool (section)

{{Short description|Historic island fortification in Virginia}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name          = Fort Wool
| partof        = [[Harbor Defense Command|Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay]] 1905–1945
| location      = [[Rip Raps]] island between [[Willoughby Spit]] and [[Old Point Comfort]], Virginia
| coordinates   = 
| pushpin_map   = 
| pushpin_mapsize = 
| image         = FtWool.JPG
| caption       = Fort Wool
| image_size    = 250px
| type          = [[Sea fort]]
| code          = 
| built         = 1818–1861
| builder       = [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]
| materials     = Stone
| height        = 
| used          = 1861–present
| demolished    = 
| condition     = 
| ownership     = *[[U.S. Government]] (1818–1953)
*[[Commonwealth of Virginia]] (1953–present)
| open_to_public = No
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                           = Fort Wool
| embed                          = yes
| nrhp_type                      =
| designated_other1              = Virginia Landmarks Register
| designated_other1_date         = November 5, 1968<ref name=register>{{cite web|title=Virginia Landmarks Register|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources|access-date=19 March 2013}}</ref>
| designated_other1_number       = 114-0041
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| image                          =
| caption                        =
| location                       = [[Rip Raps]] island between Willoughby Spit and Old Point Comfort, [[Hampton, Virginia]]
| coordinates                    = {{coord|36|59|12|N|76|18|04|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin                       = Virginia#USA
| architect                      = [[Simon Bernard]]
| built                          = {{Start date|1819}}
| added                          = November 25, 1969
| area                           = {{convert|15|acre}}
| refnum                         = 69000339<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
}}
| controlledby  = *[[United States Army]] (1818–1953)
*City of [[Hampton, Virginia]] (1953–present)
| garrison      = 
| current_commander = 
| commanders    = 
| occupants     = 
| battles       = [[American Civil War]]<br>[[World War I]]<br>[[World War II]]
| events        = 
}}

'''Fort Wool''' is a decommissioned island [[fortification]] located in the mouth of [[Hampton Roads]], adjacent to the [[Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel|Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT)]]. Officially known as [[Rip Raps|Rip Raps Island]], the fort has an elevation of 7 feet and sits near [[Old Point Comfort]], [[Old Point Comfort Light]], Willoughby Beach and [[Willoughby Spit]], approximately one mile south of [[Fort Monroe]].

Originally named '''Castle Calhoun''' or '''Fort Calhoun'''<ref name=AFN1>[https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/varoads.html#hampton Hampton Roads forts at American Forts Network]</ref> after [[Secretary of War]] [[John C. Calhoun]], the fort was renamed after [[John E. Wool|Maj. Gen. John Ellis Wool]] on 18 March 1862 during the [[American Civil War]].<ref name=Batt1/> It is noted on current nautical maps as "Rip Raps"<ref>[[Riprap]] is a name for rocks used as an embankment to reinforce shorelines.</ref> and was sometimes referred to by that name during the Civil War.<ref name=Batt1>[https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-hampton-roads-fort-wool The Civil War in Hampton Roads: Fort Wool at Battlefields.org]</ref>

Fort Wool was one of more than 40 forts developed after the [[War of 1812]], when British forces sailed the Chesapeake Bay to [[Burning of Washington|burn the Capital]].<ref>{{cite web
| title= Simon Bernard and America's Coastal Forts
| url   = http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/regional_review/vol2-2b.htm
| publisher  = National Park Service
| access-date = 21 December 2012
}}</ref> This program was later known as the [[Seacoast defense in the United States|third system of U.S. fortifications]]. Designed by Brigadier General of Engineers [[Simon Bernard]], an expatriate Frenchman who had served as a general of engineers under [[Napoleon]], Fort Wool was constructed on a [[shoal]] of [[Sailing ballast|ballast stones]] dumped as sailing ships entered Hampton's harbor and was originally intended to have three tiers of [[casemate]]s and a [[barbette]] tier with 216 muzzle-loading [[cannon]], although it never reached this size. Only two-thirds of the fort's bottom two tiers were completed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weaver II |first1=John R. |title=A Legacy in Brick and Stone: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816-1867, 2nd Ed. | pages=186–190 |publisher=Redoubt Press |location=McLean, VA |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-7323916-1-1 }}</ref> Fort Wool was built to maintain a crossfire with Fort Monroe, located directly across the channel, thereby protecting the entrance to the harbor.<ref>{{cite book
|title= Permanent Fortifications and Sea-Coast Defenses April 23, 1862
|year = 1862| url   = https://books.google.com/books?id=G_DHuvB5YugC&q=%22Fortification+%26+Sea-Coastal+Defences%22
| publisher  = pp 330-345 37th Congress, 2nd Session Report No. 86
| access-date = 21 December 2012
}}
</ref>

In 1902, as a result of the [[Board of Fortifications|Endicott Board's findings]],<ref>{{cite web
|title=Endicott board's report
|url=http://www.cdsg.org/downloads/46%20WD%20Bd%20of%20Review%2011-26-15.pdf
|publisher=Coast Defense Study Group (CDSG)
|access-date=20 December 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525213545/http://www.cdsg.org/downloads/46%20WD%20Bd%20of%20Review%2011-26-15.pdf
|archive-date=25 May 2011
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> all of the original fort, except for eight casemates at the west end, was demolished and new fortifications were constructed. The new armament, mounted in three batteries of two [[6-inch gun M1903|6-inch (152 mm) guns]] each, plus two batteries totaling six 3-inch (76&nbsp;mm) guns, remained in place for decades, with modifications made from time to time.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay Armament
| date = 23 May 2016
| url   = https://cdsg.org/the-harbor-defenses-of-chesapeake-bay/
| publisher  = Coast Defense Study Group
| access-date = 10 March 2019
}}
</ref> Only the six original three-inch guns remained in 1942, when two were sent to nearby [[Fort John Custis]] on [[Fisherman Island (Virginia)|Fisherman Island]]. A modern battery of two new long-range six-inch guns was constructed over one of the old Endicott period batteries during World War II but was never armed. The fort was decommissioned by the military in 1953.<ref name=NatReg>{{cite web|title=Fort Wool National Register Nomination|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Hampton/114-0041_Fort_Wool_1969_Final_Nomination.pdf|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources|access-date=28 July 2011}}</ref>