Searchlights #8 and #9
Fort Casey, HD Puget Sound
Searchlight #11 Ft. Casey.

Searchlights #8 and #9 were built in 1911 and were used until the end of WW2. Each 'light was housed in a concrete shelter and rolled out on a short track when in use. The shelters appear to have been painted to look like they were built of green brick, possibly in an attempt to camouflage them.





Searchlight #8

Searchlight #8's controller booth was about 870 feet to the north, I haven't found any remains of it.

Looking north at the shelter.
Looking southwest at the shelter.
The north wall.
March 2002
The door is wreathed in ivy.
Looking east inside the shelter.
Looking southwest at the floor.
March 2002
The switchboard would have been in this corner.
Looking northwest at the shelter.
The south wall of the shelter.
March 2002
Detail of paint on the north wall.
March 2002
The window in the south wall.
The northeast corner of the shelter.
The large doors in the front wall.
March 2002



Searchlight #9

Searchlight #9 was controlled from F" 4, which is approx. 620 feet to the southeast. It is unusual in that it's searchlight car is still in place.

Looking northwest at the shelter.
The west side of the shelter.
March 2002
Looking west at the front door.
Remains of old designation painted on the inside of the door.
The northeast corner.
March 2002
The searchlight car, looking west.
March 2002
The searchlight car from the front.
March 2002
Under the car.
March 2002
The front door.
A short track ran out from the shelter.
The northwest corner.
March 2002
The southwest corner.
The southeast corner.
Looking east at the searchlight car.
Under the car.
March 2002
Under the car.



Power plant

Both searchlights were powered from this small power plant. It held two 25 KVA generator sets and two radiators. F" 4 and B" 7 also drew power from this plant.

Looking along the southwest wall.
Looking along the northeast wall.
The manhole cover for the water cistern.
The northwest corner.
Looking southeast in the power house.
March 2002
The southeast corner.
The northeast half of the radiator room.
The cable trench manhole.
Looking along the southeast wall.
Fuel tank valve guards to the east of the power plant.
March 2002
Looking southwest in the power plant.
March 2002
The northeast corner.
Looking south through the radiator room.
The southwest corner.
The southwest side of the radiator room.
Looking inside the cable trench.



RCWs
Form 4, Searchlight #8August, 1921
Form 4, Searchlight #9August, 1921
Form 4, Searchlight #8April 1, 1933
Form 4, Searchlight #9April 1, 1933
Map of Searchlights #8 and #9February, 1936
Searchlight fields of illuminationAugust 1, 1944
  
Plan of power plantAugust, 1917
Form 5August, 1921
Form 5April 1, 1933
Plan of power plantMarch, 1936



Access info:
The searchlights are at the northern end of Fort Casey and are on land owned by Seattle Pacific University. Permission should be obtained at their Camp Casey office prior to visiting the searchlights.

After that, head up hill past their campground and past the gate by btry Parker. Keep going until you get to another gate at a fork in the road, then take the trail to the right, If you went strait past the gate you'd come to a private residence. Cross the drive way and keep heading north past the old rifle range. you should go under some power lines. After a ways there should be a suspicious mound or two on the left, the searchlights are behind the mounds. #8 is easiest to see and get to. #9 is more overgrown and hidden from the road. The power plant is across the trail from the 'lights. If you come to a turn around with a gate and 'No trespassing' signs you've pasted them.

The searchlights are within a few feet of the bluff and you should be careful when exploring.

All photos from Sep 2003, unless otherwise noted.

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