Fort Sherman is a former United States Army base in Panama , located on Toro Point at the Caribbean (northern) end of the Panama Canal , on the western bank of the Canal directly opposite Colón (which is on the eastern bank). It was the primary defensive base for the Caribbean sector of the Canal, and was also the center for US jungle warfare training for some time. Its Pacific-side partner was Fort Amador . Both bases were turned over to Panama in 1999.
9-571: Concurrent with the Canal construction a number of defensive locations were developed to protect it, both with coastal defense guns, as well as military bases to defend against a direct infantry assault. Fort Sherman was the primary Caribbean-side infantry base, while Fort Amador protected the Pacific side. Construction of Fort Sherman began in January 1912 as a phase of the original 1910 defensive plans. Fort Sherman
18-572: A number of large batteries on the various islands. To supply them, the causeway was extended to connect from Naos to the other nearby islands, Culebra, Perico, and Flamenco, all of which had batteries of various sizes. Grant also included the nearby unconnected islands of San Jose, Panamarca, Changarmi, Tortolita, Torola, Taboga, Cocovieceta, Cocovi, and Venado. Fort Amador was initially armed with two batteries, each of two six inch disappearing guns. Batteries Birnie and Snith, begun in 1913, were completed in 1917. They remained in service until 1943, when
27-746: A year. The JOTC also taught a ten-day Air Crew Survival Course open to all branches of service and a four-week Engineer Jungle Warfare Course. Upon completion of the course the Jungle Expert Patch was awarded. Between 1966 and 1979, 1,160 sounding rockets with maximum flight altitudes of 99 kilometres were launched from Fort Sherman. Fort Sherman was used in the filming of the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace . 9°21′47″N 79°57′11″W / 9.36302°N 79.953035°W / 9.36302; -79.953035 Fort Amador Fort Amador ( Spanish : Fuerte Amador ) and Fort Grant were former United States Army bases built to protect
36-497: Is now a major tourist attraction. The offshore islands had always been considered excellent defensive grounds and were long visited by English pirates . Sir Francis Drake , Captain Cook , and Henry Morgan all used Taboga and Perico as refuges, after raiding Spanish galleons . It was here that then-Captain Ulysses S. Grant ended his cross-Panama march in 1852. During the construction of
45-658: The Pacific (southern) end of the Panama Canal at Panama Bay . Amador was the primary on-land site, lying below the Bridge of the Americas . Grant consisted of a series of islands lying just offshore, some connected to Amador via a causeway. Fort Sherman was the corresponding base on the Atlantic (northern) side. All of the forts were turned over to the Republic of Panama in 1999, and the area
54-536: The Panama Canal, notably the Culebra Cut , waste material was dumped in a mangrove bush then known as the "Balboa dump". As the work progressed, the dump was backfilled to create a large breakwater, which was later extended to the nearest of the offshore islands, Naos. This work was completed in 1912, and the military reservations were given their official names that year. Fort Amador is named for Manuel Amador Guerrero ,
63-410: The first president of Panama, while Fort Grant was named to commemorate Grant's earlier crossing to that point. The two forts initially claimed only about 70 acres (28 ha) of land, but this expanded over the years to over 344. Amador was the primary infantry and support area, and grew to include a rather prominent "tank farm" for fuel storage. Grant was used primarily for naval defence, and included
72-550: Was installed there in 1941. The fort contained the following batteries During WW1 supplemental shore batteries were added on or near Fort Sherman using field pieces. After the decommissioning of the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps , the forested area was used by the United States Army South ( USARSO ) Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC). JOTC was founded in 1951 to train both US and allied Central American forces in jungle warfare, with an enrollment of about 9,000
81-472: Was named by War Department General Order No. 153 dated November 24, 1911, in honor of General William Tecumseh Sherman . The Fort included 23,100 acres (93 km) of land, about half of which was covered by jungle. The developed areas included housing, barracks for 300, a small airstrip and various recreational areas. Sherman was the site of the US's first operationally deployed early warning radar when an SCR-270
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