- Portsmouth Naval Prison
Portsmouth Naval Prison is a former U.S. Navy and Marine
prison in Kittery,Maine onSeavey's Island , thePortsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) compound. The building's appearance earned it a nickname, "the Castle." Others called it "Alcatraz of the East" because no inmate ever successfully escaped. Erected near the site of former Fort Sullivan, thereinforced concrete naval prison was occupied from 1908 until 1974.Fort Sullivan & Camp Long
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name = Fort Sullivan
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added =January 26 ,1970
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governing_body = The island site was first used in 1775 during the Revolution when theNew Hampshire militia , commanded by GeneralJohn Sullivan , constructed an earthwork defense called Fort Sullivan atop the bluff. In conjunction with Fort Washington across thePiscataqua River on Pierce Island, it guarded the channel to Portsmouth. The militia withdrew about three years later. The fort was reactivated for theBritish-American War in 1814. In 1863, it was rebuilt to protect Portsmouth against attacks by the Confederate navy. After 1866, Fort Sullivan was dismantled. Camp Long, named forSecretary of the Navy John Long, was erected nearby during theSpanish-American War . From July 11 to mid-September in 1898, thestockade housed 1,612 Spanish prisoners, including Admiral Pascual Cervera, until returned toSpain .cite web
url=http://www.geocities.com/nhfortress/Fort_Sullivan/history.html| title=History of Fort Sullivan| accessed=2006-09-08]"Alcatraz of the East"
When Camp Long was dismantled in 1901, the site became available for a naval prison. Constructed between 1905–1908, the brig was modeled after
Alcatraz , set on an island withtidal currents to deter escape. Colonel Kelton of the Marine Corps was in command when the first Navy prisoners arrived in 1908. It would eventually house Marine inmates as well. The centralcrenellate d tower, roofed incopper , was erected in 1912. Lieutenant Commander Thomas Osbourne assumed command in 1917. Called "the Father of Naval Corrections," Osbourne and 2 others went undercover in the prison to see what changes needed to be made, including living conditions. DuringWorld War I , the prison housed wartime convicts, reaching a maximum of 2,295 in 1918. Two wings were added -- in 1942 the northeast wing, and in 1943 the unornamented southwest wing, dubbed "the Fortress," which rises sheer beside the rocky shore.Maximum occupancy reached 3,088 in 1945. After
World War II ended in Europe onMay 5 ,1945 , several GermanU-boat s in the area surrendered and were towed to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the nearestsubmarine base . Arrival of the U-boats created a stir, so one was put on display and opened to visitors. After Marine guards collected various crew belongings assouvenir s, the Germans were confined at the naval prison.cite web
url=http://www.seacoastnh.com/20th/uboat.html| title=The German U-boats Surrender (1945)| accessed= 2006-09-08] The brig was used throughout theKorean War and almost to the end of theVietnam War . During warmer months, it was not uncommon for boats navigating the river to hear shouts and whistles coming from within barred windows of "the Fortress." In 1974, however, the Department of Defense developed a three-tiered, regional correctional facility plan. Inmates would be placed depending on the service, sentence length, geographical location and treatment programs. First-tier offenders are those with sentences less than a year, second-tier up to 7 years. Male convicts from all the services sentenced to punitive discharge and incarceration longer than 7 years are confined at the third-tier -- the maximum-security U. S. Disciplinary Barracks atFort Leavenworth ,Kansas . The Portsmouth Naval Prison, built to be a modern correctional facility for a navy which had once disciplined byflogging andcapital punishment , was renderedobsolete . After containing about 86,000 military inmates over its 66 year operation, the brig closed in 1974, its maintenance thereafter contributing to shipyard overhead.In popular culture
In the 1973 movie "
The Last Detail ",Seaman Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid ) is escorted bypetty officer s Billy "Badass" Buddusky (Jack Nicholson ) and Mule Mulhall (Otis Young ) to the Portsmouth Naval Prison. Meadows has been sentenced to 8 years confinement for trying to steal $40 from a charity box. But because of his harsh sentence, the guards feel sorry for Meadows. They decide to show the naive sailor the time of his life before arriving on Seavey's Island (where another location substitutes for the actual brig).Disuse
The building was previously one of 14 structures the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard had considered for outleasing and
renovation . Local developer Joseph Sawtelle estimated the cost to renovate the immense edifice into civilian office space, including removinglead paint andasbestos , would cost more than $10 million. But plans to adapt the prison were halted a month after Sawtelle's death in 2000, and abandoned altogether after military base security was tightened following the terrorist attacks ofSeptember 11 ,2001 in New York City and Washington D.C.cite news
last = Fabrizio
first = Richard
title = Naval prison plans dead in the water
work = [http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/index.htm Portsmouth Herald]
date = 2001-02-25
url = http://www.seacoastonline.com/2001news/2_25a.htm
accessdate = 2006-09-08 ]References
* [http://www.geocities.com/naforts/me4.html#sullivan History of Fort Sullivan]
* [http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82683 General Military Prison Information]External links
* [http://www.ports.navy.mil/ Portsmouth Naval Shipyard & History]
* [http://www.mainemuseums.org/htm/museumdetail.php3?orgID=260 Kittery Historical & Naval Museum]
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