Fort Monroe, and Battery B had two M1900 guns moved from Fort Andrews near Boston. In 1919 the 6-inch guns were returned to Fort Monroe, while the 5-inch guns were removed from service as part of a general retirement of 5-inch guns from the Coast Artillery. Between the wars Battery Pennington, consisting of four M1920 howitzers, was emplaced at Fort Story in 1922, along with a three-gun anti-aircraft battery of M1917 guns. The 16-inch howitzer had a barrel length of 25 calibers; the contemporary 16-inch gun M1919 had a 50-caliber barrel. With the improved weapon location at Fort Story and a range advantage over Fort Monroe's 12-inch guns of versus , the 16-inch weapons could engage attacking warships long before they could come within range of Fort Monroe. Fort Story was the only location to receive these howitzers, though a few other harbor defenses received the longer 16-inch guns in the 1920s. The artillery were not accompanied by smaller-caliber rapid-fire guns until 1942. In 1924, the coast defense command was designated a Harbor Defense Command and entered a period of post-war inactivity which lasted until the beginning of World War II. Following regimentation of the Coast Artillery Corps, the Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay were garrisoned by the 12th Coast Artillery Regiment of the regular army, with the 246th Coast Artillery Regiment as the Virginia National Guard component. In 1932 the 12th Coast Artillery was effectively redesignated as the 2nd Coast Artillery, continuing as the garrison of Chesapeake Bay. In May 1928, the first battle practice of units of the coast artillery was held since the end of World War I. A battalion of railway guns fired at "hostile" ships 16,000 yards out to sea; the 1st Battalion of the 12th Coast Artillery and the 52nd Coast Artillery (Railway) participated. A 1922 map shows positions for a Batignolles railway gun and a M1918 railway gun; these were probably for trials rather than operational weapons. The Batignolles mount was a French design used with 12-inch guns to produce U.S.-made railway artillery during World War I. The 14-inch gun M1918 was a developmental weapon that did not see active service; the 14-inch M1920 railway gun was eventually deployed instead, though not at Fort Story. World War II In 1941, prior to the United States entering World War II, more land was acquired at Fort Story. Following the American entry into World War