On Wednesday September 23, 2008 my friends and I went to Peaks Island in search for a cave. What is funny is that I went to this Island not knowing that I could go there for one of my site visits and I didn't know that Battery Steel even existed. We took the ferry over to Peak's Island around 3:15 and got to the Island at 3:45. When we arrived we all went to the potty and then we set out in search for this cave that we were looking for. It was a pretty moderate day outside, warm enough to wear a t-shirt and shorts. There weren't many people on the Island so it felt like we had the whole Island to ourselves. We started out by walking through the nature trail, thinking that a cave would be in the woods. To our unliking, we found no "cave." After about an hour of walking, we came up to Battery Steel. The entrance in the middle was flooded, so the only way we could get inside was to start at the ends. 
Battery Steel is a huge tunnel built into the side of a hill. When inside it is completely dark and you need a flashlight in order to see. We only had a little maglight flashlight for all five of us, so we all grouped in a small huddle and made our way down the dark and spooky tunnel. The walls were covered in graffiti and we found lots of beer cans. Along the sides were old jail cell rooms, that had no doors and looking across the tops of the ceilings you could see old gas tube lines that supplied the light back in the day Battery Steele was operational. As we walked down the tunnel we came across something that scared us all.
As we made our way down the tunnel, Tony, stopped suddenly and yelled that we saw something. (Tony was the one holding the flashlight) We all disagreed with him. So Tony held the flashlight out in front of the entrance that he had saw this "creature" and I slowly peaked into the entrance. What I saw was this big white thing with two very big black eyes. I screamed, everybody else screamed and before I knew it we were all running for the light at t
he end of the tunnel. We all made it out and after calming down, we decided to go back and make sure that this thing wasn't a dead body. (Aaron came up with this idea that what Tony and I saw was a dead body) So we slowly made our way back into the tunnel to the entrance of the creature. This time Tony and I looked at the same time and what we thought that we saw wasn't a creature or dead body but a white army man painted on the side of the wall. You can see it in this picture. You see the the white man at the end of the tunnel to the left? This is what scared us all. I mean come on, who wouldn't jump or scream by just quickly looking at this from a distance. Anyways, after we laughed at ourselves for a while, we continued on, exploring the the rooms and side tunnels until we came to the other end of the main tunnel. We went to the backside of Battery Steele, which faces the oc
ean.
he end of the tunnel. We all made it out and after calming down, we decided to go back and make sure that this thing wasn't a dead body. (Aaron came up with this idea that what Tony and I saw was a dead body) So we slowly made our way back into the tunnel to the entrance of the creature. This time Tony and I looked at the same time and what we thought that we saw wasn't a creature or dead body but a white army man painted on the side of the wall. You can see it in this picture. You see the the white man at the end of the tunnel to the left? This is what scared us all. I mean come on, who wouldn't jump or scream by just quickly looking at this from a distance. Anyways, after we laughed at ourselves for a while, we continued on, exploring the the rooms and side tunnels until we came to the other end of the main tunnel. We went to the backside of Battery Steele, which faces the oc
ean. We climbed on top of Battery Steel and we all sat there for a while looking out into the ocean. We then decided it was time to leave but before we did we went back into the tunnel were Aaron took this picture of me. (I'm using it as proof that I was there)
After this we all left the Steel, with scared memories and pleasant adventures. I'll never forget that army man and I'll never forget the time I almost was scared to death.
Historical Significance
In World War I and in World War II, Peaks Island was used for military operations. As one of their many defense outposts, Battery Steel was created for observation and defensive purposes. Battery Steel was part of Portland's defensive system. Battery Steel has rooms to accommodate prisoners and soldiers. In World War I only a little control bunker was created but during World War II a larger and better command center was created, Battery Steel. Battery Steel isn't the only bunker on Peaks Island. The military created the bunker Cravens, that is only a little smaller than Battery Steel.
Battery Steel is 600ft long with two 16 foot long gun emplacements. These two large guns added to the defensive of the island and the defensive of Portland harbor. Now Battery Steel is completely deserted, privately owned but open to the public. There is a lot of debris everywhere and vandals have used graffiti on most of the walls. There are trip hazards, this is why you need a flashlight when visiting.
Battery Steel is important to Maine because it shows Maine's involvement in both of the World Wars. By creating defensive bunkers, Maine was ready for the invasion of Germany or any other foreign enemy. This showed Maine's partiotism and showed that Mainers don't sit on their hands when their country or fellow Americans ask for help. (cough, unlike Massachusetts, cough.)
Battery Steel is one of the few old military sites and forts that are still accessible and standing. I think that because Battery Steel is privately owned, the inhabitants take pride in trying to preserve the bunker because it is part of the island history. If the government still owned the bunker I believe that the bunker would be gone. Again this bunker is yet another example of preservation.
Resources: Wikipedia, http://www.elofson.org/Military/Military1.html
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