The Castle

The Castle, also known as Fort Independence, is the former headquarters of the Minutemen in the Commonwealth in 2287. It is a possible settlement and can be reclaimed during the Taking Independence quest. It is located to the east of the Gwinnett Restaurant and brewery. This granite star fort once provided harbor defenses for Boston, Massachusetts.

Background
The first earthen fortification was constructed on the site in 1634 to defend the colonial town of Boston from attack by sea. The first fort soon fell into disrepair and was rebuilt mainly out of timber, in the 1640s. The timber fort was taken down and a new fort of brick was constructed in its place in 1701. Although the earlier incarnations of the fort were simply known as "the Castle," this larger brick fort was called "Castle William" in honor of their king, William III. In the centuries following the Great War, it retook its original name of "The Castle."

It served as the headquarters for the Commonwealth Minutemen until 2240, when the Castle was partly destroyed by a gigantic mirelurk queen, and most of the Minutemen leadership died. Their general at the time, McGann, was cut off from the battle early on when the tunnel to his quarters collapsed. While waiting for rescue he secured the armory by activating its security. Eventually, as he ran out of supplies (and conceded that help was not coming) he drank wine he found, easing his passing into oblivion.

Rebirth
Almost fifty years later, the Commonwealth Minutemen under the Sole Survivor (as general) can retake the fort. Culling the mirelurks that since made it their nest, they can clean out the egg clutches and corpses and reactivate their communications equipment, returning a critical asset back into Minutemen hands. Once this is done, Ronnie Shaw, an older member from before the Castle's loss, calls the general back to open its West Bastion, and access its armory, giving the Minutemen access to their artillery once more.

Layout
Fort Independence is a star fort, consisting of five triangular bastions connected by walls. The walls are hollow and contain most of the fort's infrastructure, with only the workshop and the Radio Freedom transmitter out in the courtyard and two ruined gun positions on the top of the wall. The northwest and southwest walls have been all but demolished, and a sizable hole punched in the south wall as well, cutting off the west bastion, which contains the armory, from access excepting through the tunnels. The north bastion contains the kitchen; the east, the general's quarters and access to the tunnels; the southeast, the barracks. The southwest bastion is completely inaccessible.

The Castle is initially occupied by a large group of mirelurks, and piles of mud studded with mirelurk egg clutches can be found all over the courtyard and all interior areas save the armory. Once the quest Taking Independence is completed, these will be cleared away and the fort made available for settlement.

Inside the fort is a missile launcher and flamer, as well as a small amount of ammunition for each. Once settled, it comes with five free beds, a medic stand, chemistry workbench, starter lighting and electrical cable system, and an industrial water purifier good for 40 units of water should the player character reintroduce power into the system.

Inside the armory are a cache of heavy weapons, a weapon and armor workbench and three laser turrets that can be stored or redeployed elsewhere using the workshop menu. Also present are the schematics for building the special artillery units. However, access to the armory is impossible until the quest Old Guns is completed.

Access to the settlement is done from the south via the main gate, and enemies will attack from this direction; behind the gate is a small and highly defensible room, which combined with the Castle's high and easily repairable walls makes it one of the safest settlements in the Commonwealth.

The Fort's walls have been destroyed and ripped open by the invading mirelurk queen, but it is otherwise in good condition. The battlements contain remnants of the Minutemen artillery units and offer vantage points against encroaching enemies. The courtyard includes the main antenna and radio center and the settlement workshop, while the fort rooms contain well developed infrastructure, available after Taking Independence is completed. These rooms contain a kitchen with a cooking stove, a first aid store, a chemistry station and a meeting room. A weapons workbench and an armor workbench are available after gaining access to the armory.

The Castle tunnels
The tunnels can only be accessed during the quest Old Guns, by going down the stairs in the meeting room in the east corner of the fort. The tunnels are just that: a winding series of tunnels underneath the Castle. Lined with various storerooms, the hallways spiral around to room containing an emergency generator and chemistry station. The halls continue down toward some barracks, where Sarge is still operational. A nearby door leads to the western bastion, where the Castle's armory lies.

Settlement information
The Castle's courtyard is spacious with plenty of room for growing crops or constructing buildings if desired. There is also accessible open water to the north (outside the walls of the fort) which can be useful for large scale water production. Being a fort, the Castle is already well-fortified from attack, which is good given that the area is prone to raids. There is almost no junk that can be scrapped for building materials, so supply lines will likely be needed to supplement the Castle's resources.

Inhabitants

 * General McGann
 * Ronnie Shaw
 * Sarge

Notable loot

 * Guns and Bullets issue #8 - On the radio operator’s desk, in the middle of the Castle grounds, outside.
 * Fat Man and mini nuke - In the armory accessible during/after Old Guns.
 * Various laser musket upgrades in the armory.
 * Minutemen general's uniform - In the Castle tunnels during the quest Old Guns.
 * Minutemen general's hat - In the Castle tunnels during Old Guns.
 * Fusion core - In the charging slot of a generator, in the Castle tunnels during Old Guns.
 * The Last Minute - Sold by Ronnie Shaw after completing Old Guns.
 * Preston or any of the Minutemen may take the flamer when fighting against the mirelurks.
 * Nuka grenade - On top of one of the shelves.
 * Bottle message #2 - Located near the south-southeastern star point by the water's edge. The submerged boat and the lootable steamer trunk for the objective are located just northwest of Spectacle Island.

Appearances
The Castle appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes

 * The Castle is based on Fort Independence, one of the oldest continuously occupied fortified defenses of the original American settlers in the United States, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. The landmass Fort Independence is built upon is named Castle Island.
 * Towards the end of the Castle tunnels, near General McGann's body, is a crate of Amontillado wine. Opposite the wine is a skeleton seemingly entombed in a wall. This is a reference to Edgar Allen Poe's story The Cask of Amontillado, where the protagonist's enemy is lured into an underground vault, chained and then encased by a wall. The label of the Amontillado Bottle reads "Montressor, Amontillado, Bottled by: P. Edgar" is again a direct reference to the work of Poe and the protagonist, Montresor.
 * While he was serving at Fort Independence, Poe noticed a gravestone in the fort's cemetery dedicated to Lt. Robert Massie, who died on Christmas Day in 1817 from a duel with Lt. Gustavus Drane. According to folklore, the soldiers lured Drane into the basement of the fort and walled him up alive. Although this story was never confirmed to be true two workmen supposedly discovered a skeleton shackled to the floor inside one of the walls while making repairs to the fort in 1905. Years later, Poe used this incident as inspiration for The Cask of Amontillado.
 * The small partially destroyed building to the west of the castle with the destroyed sign that's says "Ivan's" with a shamrock is actually based off the real life restaurant outside Fort Independence called "Sullivan's" with two shamrocks on each side of the name and has been outside Fort Independence since June 1951.

Bugs

 * The Minuteman in charge of broadcasting Radio Freedom may complain (usually after starting the Old Guns quest) that the transmitter is not being powered, despite having power. This is accordingly due to the Minuteman becoming hostile to Sarge in the Castle tunnels and so should be able to be prevented by eliminating Sarge before Old Guns. Otherwise, this prevents the use of Radio Freedom.
 * You can get into the armory without Ronnie Shaw and before Old Guns was started by walking up to the door and placing a fast-travel marker underneath.
 * Assigning guards to guard towers can be problematic since they seem to follow a totally random patrol route to nonexistent guard towers that seem to already be in place when you take the Castle.
 * When building generators to power the beacon, the beacon will show the power requirement not being met regardless of how much power is being supplied to it and as a result, will not activate.
 * This can usually be fixed by removing each generator, storing them, and replacing them.
 * Sometimes the castle door will not open, forcing the player character to go back through the tunnels.