WIP · World in Pocket

Fort Wool

Virginia, US

Fort Wool

Fort Wool is a decommissioned island fortification located in the mouth of Hampton Roads, adjacent to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT). Officially known as Rip Raps Island, the fort has an elevation of 7 feet and sits near Old Point Comfort, Old Point Comfort Light, Willoughby Beach and Willou

ghby Spit, approximately one mile south of Fort Monroe. Originally named Castle Calhoun or Fort Calhoun after Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, the fort was renamed after Maj. Gen. John Ellis Wool on 18 March 1862 during the American Civil War. It is noted on current nautical maps as "Rip Raps" and was sometimes referred to by that name during the Civil War. Fort Wool was one of more than 40 forts developed after the War of 1812, when British forces sailed the Chesapeake Bay to burn the Capital. This program was later known as the third system of U.S. fortifications. Designed by Brigadier General of Engineers Simon Bernard, an expatriate Frenchman who had served as a general of engineers under Napoleon, Fort Wool was constructed on a shoal of ballast stones dumped as sailing ships entered Hampton's harbor and was originally intended to have three tiers of casemates and a barbette tier with...

Listen to the audio guide for Fort Wool Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

Nearby