Fort Miles Battery 223

This harbor defense battery was completed in 1943 fueling the belief that America's coastal defenses were inadequate. Located in Lower Cape May County, Battery 223 was one of the three 200 series fortifications designed to withstand direct hits from battleships and aircraft. The battery guns were never fired at an enemy, however, and as the tides of war turned, lessening the need for battery defenses, battery defenses were decommissioned. By 1950, the army had dismantled all of the fixed gun harbor defenses. Battery 223 was added to and became a part of Cape May Point State Park in 1962. In 2008, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.