The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Puget Sound is a large sheltered body of
water in northwest
Washington State near the Canadian--U.S.
border. It has easy
access to the sea but is protected by a substantial range of coastal
mountains,
the Olympic Range. This makes it a natural location for naval
facilities, of
which the most important was Bremerton.
Seattle was a
major port and aircraft production center and Tacoma
had important civilian
shipyards. There were a number of airfields ringing the Sound (including Bellingham, Ault, Paine, McChord, and Hoskins) and a major Army base at Fort Lewis, headquarters of IX Corps. Seattle was the headquarters of 13 Naval District and Fort Lawton was the headquarters of 2 Interceptor Command.
Coastal defenses were headquartered at Fort Worden and manned by 14 and 248 Coastal Artillery Regiments. Of these, the most important were the "Triangle of Fire" around the main entrance to the Sound ( Fort Casey, Fort Worden, and Fort Flagler). Other batteries were located at Fort Hayden overlooking Juan de Fuca Strait.
References
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