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23rd Company CAC Subic Bay or 23rd FA Bn (PS)?


Salvage Sailor
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Salvage Sailor

Aloha Everyone,

 

Here's another obscure photograph from my archive which was taken at Fort Shafter, T.H. in 1921. But this time it's not the Hawaiian Division but a cadre unit for the formation of the Philippine Division.

 

Members of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Field Artillery Regiment on their way to the Philippines.

The 23rd Field Artillery Battalion was a field artillery battalion of the regular Army, constituted as a US-manned unit in 1921, but redesignated as a Philippine Scouts unit in 1930. Constituted 16 August 1921 in the Regular Army as the 1st Battalion, 23d Field Artillery. Redesignated on 1 January 1930 as 1st Battalion 23d Field Artillery (Philippine Scouts).

 

In 1921, the U.S. Army created the Philippine Division, composed primarily of Philippine Scouts. The division’s major combat units were 43d Infantry Regiment (PS), 45th Infantry Regiment (PS), 57th Infantry Regiment (PS), 23d Field Artillery Regiment (PS), and 24th Field Artillery Regiment (PS). In 1922, 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS) was formed as a separate unit.

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Salvage Sailor

As you can see some are wearing tropical khaki and other are wearing wool uniforms

023.jpg

024.jpg

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Salvage Sailor

Members of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Field Artillery Regiment on their way to the Philippines to form the Philippine Division (PS) 1921

004.jpg

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If I'm seeing it correctly, the disk shows a "23" below the crossed cannon. That indicates the 23rd Company, Coast Artillery Corps or maybe the 23rd Company of a Coast Defense Command. It depends on the actual date of the image. I think the image is earlier than you think and shows both 1902 and 1911 style uniforms.

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Salvage Sailor

If I'm seeing it correctly, the disk shows a "23" below the crossed cannon. That indicates the 23rd Company, Coast Artillery Corps or maybe the 23rd Company of a Coast Defense Command. It depends on the actual date of the image. I think the image is earlier than you think and shows both 1902 and 1911 style uniforms.

 

Quite possible, and if that's the correct ID, I was wrong about them being the 23rd FA but right about them being in the Philippines.

 

From the WWI US Army Order of Battle (1914-1917)

Twenty Third Company, Coast Artillery Corps - Coast Defenses of Subic Bay - Permanent Station August, 1914, Ft. Wint, Grande Island - Coast Defense Company April 1917, 10th Company Ft. Mills.

 

This would fit the 1902 & 1911 style of uniforms in the photograph

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Salvage Sailor

Note: As I'm now not certain of the ID for this photo, I've changed the title of the topic

 

 

I'm also now leaning towards the 23rd Company CAC as it was in my folder with some photos of the 105th Company CAC (Fort Ruger, Hawaiian Department)

 

I'll have to rescan these 105th photos and compare the 23rd and 105th discs to see it they are similar to each other although I know that the 105th photos are circa 1923-1925 as they're noted.

 

Thanks again for the ID on the unit, lots of knowledge on the forum and I always welcome the insight from my fellow collectors.

105th Coast Artillery 001.jpg

Fort Ruger 1923 105th company 001.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

The Coast Defense Study Group's CAC company list shows this history for the 23rd Company:

23rd Company (formerly N/2nd Artillery)

1901 – Havana, Cuba

1902 – Fort McKinley, ME

1915 – Fort Mills, PI

1916 – 10th Company, Fort Mills, PI

1917 – 10th Company, CD Manila & Subic Bays

1918 – Fort Frank, PI

1922 – 23rd Company, CAC

1924 – F/2nd CA Regiment (HD), inactive

Based on the early style uniform in the original photo, I would venture to say that this image could be taken at Fort McKinley, Maine. It looks as if the 23rd Co. arrived in the Philippines in 1915. The original photo could be earlier than '15. I do not know if wool uniforms were worn by CAC troops in the Philippines in the 1910s either.

Here is a useful link showing the histories of Coast Artillery companies:
http://cdsg.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/FORTS/CACunits/CACcomp.pdf

 

 

 

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