Visiting Old Fort Jackson and Listening to Some of East Savannah's Port Facilities

Since there wasn't a lot of military aviation activity to listen to on my day off due to it being a federal/state holiday, I decided to go out to Old Fort Jackson to take in some local History and listen to some of east Savannah's port facilities. In addition to seeing the fort for the first time in quite awhile (and getting to see some musket and cannon demonstrations), I was able to identify some Marine VHF radio activity that I've been hearing. 

If all goes as planned, I'll be taking another road trip (and posting a road trip radio report) at the end of this month when I travel up to Stone Mountain and Lawrenceville for the Stone Mountain Hamfest. I'm planning a stop at the Kettle Creek Revolutionary War battlefield in Washington, GA on the way up.

Fort Jackson is a second-system coastal fortification, built after the American Revolution between 1808 and 1812. It saw no action during the War of 1812, but it was used by Confederate forces during the Civil War after the fall of Fort Pulaski. It did see some fire during the Civil War and some of its structures were burned when it was abandoned by the Confederates when Savannah was taken by the Union Army. The oldest standing brick fort in Georgia, it is operated as a living history museum by the Coastal Heritage Society. It's well worth a visit as part of Georgia's military and maritime history. 

Located between the Colonial Oil and Southern LNG terminals (among others) on the south bank of the Savannah River, Old Fort Jackson is also a good spot for radio monitoring enthusiasts. A lot of port related Marine VHF and Railroad activity can be easily heard from Fort Jackson as well as the Colonial Terminals and Southern LNG DMR systems. Of particular interest railroad-wise is the Savannah & Old Fort Railroad on AAR-69; you cross some of their tracks on the way to Fort Jackson from Islands Expressway.

US Coast Guard

156.8000 - Marine VHF Ch 16

157.0500 - Marine VHF Ch 1021/21A

157.1000 - Marine VHF Ch 1022/22A

171.2375 ($293) - CG 127

413.0000 ($293) - CG 410

Marine VHF

156.6500 - Marine VHF Ch 13; Savannah River Navigation Safety

156.7000 - Marine VHF Ch 14; Savannah Pilots

157.0250 - Marine VHF Ch 1080/80A

Railroad

160.3200 - AAR 14, CSX Dispatch; Savannah & Nahunta Subdivisions (Some PL 250.3)

160.4100 - AAR 20, CSX Dispatch; Columbia Subdivision (Some PL 250.3)

160.5900 - AAR 32, CSX Road; Savannah, Jesup, & Charleston Subdivisions (Some PL 250.3)

161.1000 - AAR 66, CSX Road; Columbia Subdivision (Some PL 250.3)

160.4850 - AAR 25, CSX Southover Yard (Some PL 250.3)

160.9200 - AAR 54, CSX Southover Yard? (Some PL 250.3)

160.4400 - AAR 22, CSX Intermodal Yard

160.7850 - AAR 45, CSX (Some PL 250.3)

160.9350 - AAR 55, Norfolk Southern Road/Dispatch

161.0100 - AAR 60, Norfolk Southern Transportation

161.4900 - AAR 92, Norfolk Southern Dillard Yard

160.6200 - AAR 34, Savannah Port Terminal Railway

161.1450 - AAR 69, Savannah & Old Fort RR

Colonial Terminal DMR TRS

 TG 101 - Colonial Terminals 101

 TG 104 - Colonial Terminals 104

 TG 107 - Colonial Terminals 107

 TG 109 - Colonial Terminals 109

 TG 117 - Colonial Terminals 117

 TG 120 - Colonial Terminals 120

 TG 121 - Colonial Terminals 121

 TG 122 - Colonial Terminals 122

 TG 130 - Colonial Terminals 130

Southern LNG DMR TRS

 TG 103 - Southern LNG 103

 TG 105 - Southern LNG 105

 TG 116 - Southern LNG 118

 TG 117 - Southern LNG 117

 TG 118 - Southern LNG 118

 TG 119 - Southern LNG 119

 TG 120 - Southern LNG 120

 TG 130 - Southern LNG 130

I've been hearing a lot of activity on 157.0250 - Marine VHF Ch 1080, especially in the mornings and I've thought it could be dredge work. This visit to Old Fort Jackson pretty much confirmed it; I could hear a few transmissions on Marine VHF 1080 very loud and strong while there and there was leg jack-up tug and some dredge equipment nearby in the Savannah River where in splits into the South Channel and the Back River. The Leg Jack-Up Tug Enzo Charles is seen in the photo below along with a couple of barges and the sunken dredge Phillip M in the foreground.