On 15 January 1941,
Newfoundland Base Command was activated on board the
United States Army troop transport ship USAT
Edmund B. Alexander at the
New York Port of Embarkation. The ship departed for Argentia and St. John's on the 20th, arriving at
Argentia on the 25th to drop off troops and construction personnel, and soon docking in St. John's as a
barracks ship until May 1941, when housing for the garrison was finished. The ship brought troops of the 3rd Battalion,
3rd Infantry Regiment, Battery A of the 57th Coast Artillery (Tractor Drawn) (TD) Regiment with four mobile
155 mm guns, and Battery B of the
62nd Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) (AA) Regiment. It appears the 155 mm gun battery may have been split with two guns each at Argentia and St. John's; their presence at St. John's prior to 1942 is uncertain. It is likely the other units were split also. Although the harbor defense command was reportedly activated with the arrival of the 155 mm gun battery, it was on a small scale initially. The Naval Operating Base at
Naval Station Argentia was commissioned on 15 July 1941; the adjacent Naval Air Station (NAS) Argentia was commissioned 28 August 1941. On 20 July 1941 the 155 mm gun battery was redesignated as Battery A,
53rd Coast Artillery (TD) Regiment, and on 1 August 1941 (some sources 1942) the AA battery was redesignated as Battery A, 421st CA (AA) Battalion (Separate). At some time the remainder of the 421st probably arrived in Newfoundland. On 14 April 1942 a second AA battalion, the 422nd CA (AA) (Composite) arrived in Newfoundland. On 11 November 1943 the CA (AA) battalions were redesignated as Antiaircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalions (Composite). Both battalions returned to the United States in January 1944. During 1941 two Lend-Lease
10-inch M1888 disappearing guns were emplaced at Fort
Cape Spear near St. John's; these were manned by Canadian forces. Another pair of 10-inch guns were at Phillip's Head to guard
Botwood in northern Newfoundland. In the summer of 1941, deployed to Argentia to house flag headquarters for the base. On 7 December 1941 the United States entered World War II following the
attack on Pearl Harbor. Construction ramped up at US facilities in Newfoundland; for coast defense batteries this was primarily at Argentia. The major effort at this time was the construction of Battery 281 and Battery 282 at Fort McAndrew from January through October 1942. These batteries had two 6-inch guns each, on shielded long-range carriages with reinforced concrete and earth bunkers housing
magazines and
fire control equipment. Two
indicator loop stations for magnetic detection of submarines were established in Newfoundland; a US Navy-manned station at Argentia (Station 1X) and a Royal Canadian Navy-manned station at St. John's. On 14 February 1942 the 1st Battalion,
3rd Infantry Regiment was activated in Newfoundland, joining the 3rd Battalion; the remainder of the regiment arrived on 6 July 1942. The 2nd Battalion moved to Greenland at some point soon afterward, and the regiment departed Newfoundland in September 1943. On 16 February 1942 the 8-inch and 155 mm batteries were redesignated as elements of the
24th Coast Artillery Regiment, which became the primary coast artillery unit in Newfoundland through October 1944 at least, and possibly to the end of hostilities. The regimental headquarters and two additional batteries arrived at Fort McAndrew on 25 March 1942. ==Coastal artillery sites==