New Tavern Fort is an historic artillery fort in Gravesend, Kent. Dating mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, it is an unusually well-preserved example of an 18th-century fortification and remained in use for defensive purposes until the Second World War. It was built during the American War of Independence to guard the Thames against French and Spanish raiders operating in support of the newly formed United States of America. It was redesigned and rebuilt in the mid-19th century to defend against a new generation of iron-clad French warships.
Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city by the shallower waters of the Manukau Harbour.
The Rangitoto Channel is an area of the Hauraki Gulf in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. The channel is north-east of the Waitematā Harbour, and is located between the North Shore and Rangitoto Island. The channel's traditional Ngāi Tai name is Te Awanui o Peretū, and is an important deep water shipping channel to reach the Ports of Auckland.
Wrights Hill Fortress is a counter bombardment coastal artillery battery in the Karori suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It was built between 1942 and 1944 and is predominantly underground, with numerous tunnels linking the war shelters, gun emplacements, magazines, plotting rooms and engine room – which are, at some points, over 50 feet underground. The fort was intended to house three 9.2" Mk. XV guns, but only two guns were installed and the fort never saw action. After World War II was over, fort commanders fired both of the guns. The fall of the shot was observed in Cook Strait and these test firings were deemed a success. In 1960, somewhat ironically, both of the guns were sold to the Japanese as scrap metal, the very nation Wrights Hill Fortress was constructed to defend Wellington against. The design of the fort is similar to the Stony Batter and Whangaparāoa 9.2" Mk. XV batteries, near Auckland.
Takaparawhau / Bastion Point is a coastal piece of land in Ōrākei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitematā Harbour. The area is significant in New Zealand history as the site of protests in the late 1970s by Māori against forced land alienation by Pākehā. Takaparawhau is now the site of the private Ōrākei Marae, the public Michael Joseph Savage Memorial, and privately-owned reserve land that is accessible to the public.
Ripapa Island, also known earlier as Ripa Island, located just off the shore of Lyttelton Harbour, has played many roles in the history of New Zealand. A Māori fortified pā there played a key role in an internal struggle for the South Island Ngāi Tahu tribe in the early 19th century. Between 1873 and 1885, the island hosted a quarantine station, which was also used as a temporary prison for members of the Parihaka Māori settlement in Taranaki. Fort Jervois was built in 1886 as part of system of defences against a feared Russian invasion. The fort was in military use until the end of World War I, and again during World War II. It is the most complete Russian-scare fort still existing in New Zealand.
Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site is a 19th-century coastal artillery fort on the Colwood side of Esquimalt Harbour,. The site is adjacent to Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site, the first lighthouse on the west coast of Canada. Both the fort and lighthouse are managed and presented to the public by Parks Canada.
North Head is a volcano and Tūpuna Maunga forming a headland at the east end of the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, in the suburb of Devonport. Known for its sweeping views over the harbour and the Hauraki Gulf, since 1885 the head was mainly used by the military as a coastal defence installation, which left a network of accessible old bunkers and tunnels as its legacy, forming part of the attraction. The site was protected as part of Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park in 1972 and listed as a Category I historic place in 2001. As part of a 2014 Treaty of Waitangi claim settlement the volcanic cone was officially named Maungauika and the reserve unofficially renamed Maungauika / North Head Historic Reserve.
Fort Pasir Panjang or Labrador Battery is located within Labrador Park at the southern tip of Singapore island. It was one of the 11 coastal artillery forts built by the British in the 19th century to defend the western passageway into Keppel Harbour against piracy and foreign naval powers. During the 1942 Battle of Pasir Panjang, the fort played a supporting role but a limited one in defending the Malay Regiments against the Japanese invasion at Bukit Chandu. In 1995, the site was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as one of the 11 World War II sites in Singapore.
Coastal fortifications were constructed in New Zealand in two main waves: around 1885 as a response to fears of an attack by Russia, and in World War II due to fears of invasion by the Japanese.
The BL 8 inch guns Mark I to Mark VII were the first generations of British rifled breechloaders of medium-heavy calibre. They were initially designed for gunpowder propellants and were of both 25.5 and 30 calibres lengths.
Fort Ballance is a former coastal artillery battery on Point Gordon on Wellington's Miramar Peninsula.
Coastal defenceand coastal fortification are measures taken to provide protection against military attack at or near a coastline, for example, fortifications and coastal artillery. Because an invading enemy normally requires a port or harbour to sustain operations, such defences are usually concentrated around such facilities, or places where such facilities could be constructed. Coastal artillery fortifications generally followed the development of land fortifications, usually incorporating land defences; sometimes separate land defence forts were built to protect coastal forts. Through the middle 19th century, coastal forts could be bastion forts, star forts, polygonal forts, or sea forts, the first three types often with detached gun batteries called "water batteries". Coastal defence weapons throughout history were heavy naval guns or weapons based on them, often supplemented by lighter weapons. In the late 19th century separate batteries of coastal artillery replaced forts in some countries; in some areas these became widely separated geographically through the mid-20th century as weapon ranges increased. The amount of landward defence provided began to vary by country from the late 19th century; by 1900 new US forts almost totally neglected these defences. Booms were also usually part of a protected harbor's defences. In the middle 19th century underwater minefields and later controlled mines were often used, or stored in peacetime to be available in wartime. With the rise of the submarine threat at the beginning of the 20th century, anti-submarine nets were used extensively, usually added to boom defences, with major warships often being equipped with them through early World War I. In World War I railway artillery emerged and soon became part of coastal artillery in some countries; with railway artillery in coast defence some type of revolving mount had to be provided to allow tracking of fast-moving targets.
Tamaki Drive is the coastal road which follows the contours of the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand. The road links the suburbs Ōrākei, Mission Bay, and Kohimarama ending in Saint Heliers providing easy access to the local beaches. Tamaki Drive was completed in 1932 and incorporates The Strand, Bice Esplanade and, what was once part of the old Kohimarama Road. It is also referred to as the Waterfront Road. Tamaki Drive is a flat road around 8 km long and popular with walkers, runners and roller skaters, and includes a dedicated cycle lane. Those travelling along Tamaki Drive can find scenic highlights and peaceful views across the harbour to the volcanic island Rangitoto. The cliffs backing onto Tamaki Drive are made of Waitematā Sandstone strata clothed in places with pōhutukawa. These trees seem to flower out of season, because these are actually Kermadec pōhutukawa with small distinctive roundish leaves.
Fort Davis, is a coastal defence fortification close to Whitegate, County Cork, Ireland. Together with similar structures at Fort Mitchel, Fort Camden (Crosshaven), and Templebreedy Battery, the fort was built to defend the mouth of Cork Harbour. Though used as a fortification from the early 17th century, the current structures of the 74-acre site date primarily from the 1860s. Originally named Fort Carlisle and operated by the British Armed Forces, the fort was handed-over to the Irish Defence Forces in 1938, and renamed Fort Davis. The facility is owned by the Department of Defence, and is used as a military training site with no public access.
Kau Point Battery is a 19th-century coast defence battery constructed in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1890s. It is located on the east side of Point Halswell in Wellington, New Zealand, approximately midway between the Massey Memorial and Fort Ballance, close to the site of the ancient Māori settlement of Kau-whakaara-waru.
Green Hill Fort is a heritage-listed fortification at Chester Street, Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. The fort is important in Australian military history as a strategic coastal defence installation in the period of transition from British to Australian responsibility for defence. The 1885 confrontation between Britain and Russia, which almost resulted in open conflict, galvanised the Australian colonies to jointly fund construction of the fortifications, and these represent an important and uncommon instance of pre-Federation Colonial cooperation on defence in the "national" interest. The fort was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 28 May 2008.
Fort George is a square fort built on the crest of Mount Hill to the west of St. George's Town, near to, but outside of the boundaries of the original main British Army camp in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, St. George's Garrison.
Fort Kelburne was a coastal artillery battery located in Wellington, New Zealand. Built between 1885 and 1887 in the vicinity of Ngauranga, following fears of an impending war with Russia, the fort was used for training purposes, later receiving renovations during the First World War. Fort Kelburne, along with Fort Buckley in Kaiwharawhara, were the first coastal defences to be built in a ring that was designed to protect Wellington Harbour.
Hobson Bay is a bay in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the east of the Auckland City Centre, and is bisected by the Eastern Line and Tamaki Drive.
