NIKE SITE NY-56

Located on New Jersey’s Sandy Hook peninsula, Fort Hancock was the site of the nation’s first artillery proving ground. It was also the site of numerous seacoast fortifications dating from both the 19th and 20th Centuries. Although the coastal defenses were removed during the late 1940s, antiaircraft gun batteries soon replaced them. These gun defenses were later replaced by Nike missiles.

The Fort Hancock Nike site, Nike Battery NY-56, was activated during 1955. This four magazine double site could track and engage two targets simultaneously and was in operation through 1974. Historic Fort Hancock, including its Cold War era Nike facility, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Location
Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook,(Monmouth County), NJ

Dates of Operation
1955-1974

Radar Types
ACQR, LOPAR, ABAR, HIPAR.

Missile Magazines
4 Magazines (double site).
4 type “B”.

Missiles
Nike Ajax / 40 (initial configuration)
Nike Hercules / 24

Units
Army
HHB/526th (1955-1958)
C/526th (1955-1958)
HHB/4/71st (1958-1964)
C/4/71st (1958-1964)
HHB/3/51st (1964-1968)
C/3/51st (1964-1974)
HQ 52nd Artillery Brigade (1968-1974)

Army National Guard
HQ 254th Artillery Group (1959-1963)

Current Condition
Located within the Sandy Hook unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area (National Park Service), Nike site NY-56 remains mostly intact. Most of the site’s original buildings and structures (including missile magazines and radar towers) are extant. A portion of the IFC Area has been partially restored by the NPS and local volunteers and the site is open for public tours during the warmer months of the year.