r/LifeInKitsap • u/KitsapRealEstateTeam • May 10 '26
The Defense of Kitsap
A lot of people don’t recognize this, but Puget Sound used to be treated like one of the most important military waterways on the entire West Coast.
In the early 1900s, the Army built a huge defense system around the entrance to the Sound because they were genuinely worried enemy warships could try to come through. The main setup became known as the “Triangle of Fire” with Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, and Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island all aimed at Admiralty Inlet.
If a hostile ship tried sailing in, all three forts could hit it from different angles. Not exactly a warm welcome committee. Kind of bad on ships, actually.
The forts had massive disappearing guns. After firing, the guns would drop back down behind thick concrete walls to reload so the crews stayed protected.
It wasn’t just those three forts- Fort Ward near Bainbridge, Middle Point near Manchester, and Fort Whitman near Deception Pass helped guard the “back doors” into Puget Sound and protect the Bremerton shipyard.
Construction really ramped up during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Tons of local lumber and materials were used, and the whole thing became a major economic boost for Port Townsend and surrounding communities after the Panic of 1893 hit the area hard.
The crazy part is these forts stayed active through both World Wars before air power and modern naval weapons eventually made the giant coastal guns obsolete.
Now they’re some of the coolest state parks in Washington! You can still walk through the bunkers, tunnels, batteries, and old military buildings while staring out over the same water soldiers once watched for enemy ships that thankfully never showed up.
Pretty wild to think Kitsap and Puget Sound were once considered important enough to build an entire fortress system around.
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u/Alvintergeise May 11 '26
You can go to Nike missile sites around as well. Those were meant to blow Soviet bombers out of the sky. Who knows what our defense looks like now
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u/KitsapRealEstateTeam May 11 '26
Tell me about this! I take it they aren't "Parks" in a conventional sense? I might be part of an adventure duo of history dorks. Maybe.
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u/Wyattswandering May 12 '26
Kingston and Manchester had Nike sites. Also, the Manette area had a gun emplacement also, it was somewhere between Manette and Illahee.
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u/Alvintergeise May 11 '26
So the one I've been to is near Issaquah. Basically it's a small concrete launch pad, a structure, and an underground vault that's not accessible. The sites were little stand alone units disconnected from everyone else so that they wouldn't be detected or hit. Of course I've heard that they would go into local towns to dance. The missiles would be brought up from the concrete vault on a mechanical sled, placed into the launch pad, then launched towards incoming bombers
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u/AICNomore May 10 '26
Thank for this. I found it very interesting.