Artifact of the Month
During the post-World War II era the Coast Artillery Corps went through a transition. Instead of being an all heavy artillery organization, in 1925 it began to take an active role as anti-aircraft artillery. Many of the Coast Artillery units that transitioned to anti-aircraft came from Coast Artillery reserve units.
During World War II, except for the early-war fighting in the Philippines, the anti-aircraft branch was the Coast Artillery's only contribution on the front lines. The mobile heavy artillery overseas had been taken over by the Field Artillery.
When World War II ended, it was decided that few gun defenses were needed, and by 1948 almost all of the seacoast defenses had been scrapped. With only the anti-aircraft mission left, the Coast Artillery was disestablished and the anti-aircraft and field artillery branches were merged in 1950. Today the Air Defense Artillery carries much of the Coast Artillery’s lineage, including many regiment numbers and the Oozlefinch mascot.
The 213th Coast Artillery was formed out of infantry units of the Pennsylvania National Guard on May 1, 1922. The unit served in the European theater of operations during World War II. In 1943 the unit was broken up into three separate battalions all of which were Anti-Aircraft Artillery. Today, the lineage of the 213th Coast Artillery is carried on by the 213th Air Defense Artillery Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard.