Stack Rock Fort is a fort built on a small island in the Milford Haven Waterway, Pembrokeshire, Wales. A 3-gun fort was built between 1850 and 1852, and then upgraded from 1859 to 1871 with a new building that completely encased the original gun tower. It is now a Grade II* listed building [1] and a scheduled monument (registered SAM number PE334).
In 1539 the first proposal for a fortification at Stack Rock to protect the estuary was submitted by Thomas Cromwell, however his proposal was not approved. Similar proposals were made in 1748 when Lewis Morris carried out a survey of Milford Haven, reporting on shipwrecks and navigation and recommending that a small fort be built here. Another survey followed in 1817.
For over 200 years proposals and surveys were discussed regarding the need for a fortress on Stack Rock Island, yet nothing had been done. In 1850, with the rise of Napoleon III in France, and with the new French king's occasionally bellicose threats towards Britain, the time had finally come to put the plans to build a fort into action. The Royal Dockyard at Pembroke Dock was finally going to have its own fort to defend it from the sea. [2] The initial result was a tower mounting three guns, similar to the two towers in Pembroke Dock. [3] The initial tower was elliptical in section, with a maximum diameter of 55 feet (17 m) and a maximum height of 30 feet (9.1 m). [4] Construction commenced in 1850, being completed in 1852. [5]
In 1858, the first appearance of the new French ironclad Gloire with its new invulnerability to the initial fort's guns rendered the initial tower and its guns as obsolete, so it was decided to completely surround the initial tower with a newly expanded and updated battery. The original design of the newly expanded fort was for two decks each of 19 casemates and 16 open air guns above, 54 guns in total, and built mainly of limestone. However, after the foundations had been started in 1861, the design for the expansion was amended to have stronger granite piers supporting iron gun shields. The expansion's new basements and magazines were completed in 1863. Then the design was altered again, for 16 large guns on a single floor of casemates in the front and seven smaller guns on two floors in the gorge or the fortification's "weak-point," in the rear of the fort facing into the Haven. The top floor was built as accommodation intended for 4 officers and 152 men. On the roof of the fort, three gun turrets each with two huge RML 12-inch 25-ton gun were planned, but never installed. This scheme was finally completed in 1871. [3] The usual peacetime garrison was one officer and thirty men. [5] Eventually the concerns about Napoleon III's intentions proved to be unwarranted, and the fort never saw actual combat. [6]
During WW I the fort was used to monitor and protect the harbor with its big guns. Other forms of protection which the fort provided for the harbor included a system of anti-ship mines in the harbor which were remotely controlled from the fort, as well as a set of large searchlights to protect against night time raids. [7] In 1929 the fort was decommissioned. In 1932 it was first placed on the market and sold for £160. [5]
During WW II the old fort was briefly used by the RAF as a military communications relay station. [7] In 2005 it was sold once more for £150,000. [8] Concerns over the security of a nearby LNG jetty were raised in 2013, following the discovery of potential trespasser activity. [9] The fort was sold again in 2020 to a private owner for an undisclosed amount. Land Registry records show [10] that it was sold in January 2021 for £191,000 to community interest company (CIC) Anoniiem. [11]
The original tower housed three 32-pounder guns, as well as a single 12-pounder for protection of the walls of the dock. From 1859 to 1871, the armaments were changed to sixteen 10-inch and seven 9-inch Rifled Muzzle Loaders. These were replaced with four 12-pounder QF (quick firing) guns in 1902. A small number of men manned the fort during World War I and by this time, only two 12-pounder QF guns remained. [2]
Fort Wool is a decommissioned island fortification located in the mouth of Hampton Roads, adjacent to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT). Officially known as Rip Raps Island, the fort has an elevation of 7 feet and sits near Old Point Comfort, Old Point Comfort Light, Willoughby Beach and Willoughby Spit, approximately one mile south of Fort Monroe.
Fort William and Mary was a colonial-era fortification in Great Britain's worldwide system of defenses, defended by soldiers of the Province of New Hampshire who reported directly to the royal governor. The fort, originally known as "The Castle," was situated on the island of New Castle, New Hampshire, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River estuary. It was renamed Fort William and Mary circa 1692, after the accession of the monarchs William III and Mary II to the British throne. It was captured by Patriot forces, recaptured, and later abandoned by the British in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The fort was renamed Fort Constitution in 1808 following rebuilding, in light of increasing hostilities with the British again, especially from its Royal Navy, resulting in the subsequent War of 1812. The fort was further rebuilt and expanded through 1899, following the Spanish-American War. It served actively through the first half of the 20th century to World War II.
Milford Haven is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages.
Pembroke Dock is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau.
Garrison Point Fort is a former artillery fort situated at the end of the Garrison Point peninsula at Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Built in the 1860s in response to concerns about a possible French invasion, it was the last in a series of artillery batteries that had existed on the site since the mid-16th century. The fort's position enabled it to guard the strategic point where the River Medway meets the Thames. It is a rare example of a two-tiered casemated fort – one of only two of that era in the country – with a design that is otherwise similar to that of several of the other forts along the lower Thames. It remained operational until 1956 and is now used by the Sheerness Docks as a port installation.
Beacon Hill Battery is a late-19th and 20th century coastal fortification that was built to defend the port of Harwich, Essex. It is a scheduled ancient monument.
Fort Hubberstone, on the west side of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, is a Grade II* Listed Building which belongs to a series of forts built as part of the inner line of defence of the Haven following the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom. Together with Popton Fort on the opposite shore, it provided an interlocking field of fire, and represented the last layer of defence before reaching the Royal Naval dockyard at Pembroke Dock. Construction began in 1860 and was completed in 1863 at a cost of £55,000. It is a large battery, with eleven guns in casemates, eight in an open battery above, with another nine in an open flank battery, and a large barracks to the rear. It is a D-shaped structure, with a bomb-proof roof which protected the barracks and other buildings from mortar projectiles. On its landward side, it was protected by a deep ditch, and on the seaward side by a counter-scarp gallery. The associated casemate battery is located further down the headland and separated from the fort.
Dale Fort is a mid-19th-century coastal artillery fort at Dale Head, a rocky promontory near Dale, Pembrokeshire, west of Milford Haven in Wales. It is one of the centres run by Field Studies Council and offers residential and non-residential fieldwork for schools, colleges and universities, holiday accommodation and professional and leisure courses in natural history and arts.
House Island is a private island in Portland Harbor in Casco Bay, Maine, United States. It is part of the City of Portland. The island is accessible only by boat. Public access is prohibited, except for an on-request tour sanctioned by the island's owners. House Island includes three buildings on the east side and Fort Scammell on the west side. The buildings are used as vacation rentals and other summer residences. The island's name derives from the site of an early European house, believed that built by Capt. Christopher Levett, an English explorer of the region.
Milford Haven Waterway is a natural harbour in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is a ria or drowned valley which was flooded at the end of the last ice age. The Daugleddau estuary winds west to the sea. As one of the deepest natural harbours in the world, it is a busy shipping channel, trafficked by ferries from Pembroke Dock to Ireland, oil tankers and pleasure craft. Admiral Horatio Nelson, visiting the haven with the Hamiltons, described it as the next best natural harbour to Trincomalee in Ceylon and "the finest port in Christendom". Much of the coastline of the Waterway is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, listed as Milford Haven Waterway SSSI.
Seacoast defense was a major concern for the United States from its independence until World War II. Before airplanes, many of America's enemies could only reach it from the sea, making coastal forts an economical alternative to standing armies or a large navy. Substantial fortifications were built at key locations, especially protecting major harbors. Seacoast defense also included submarine minefields, nets and booms, ships, and, later, airplanes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played the central role in constructing fixed defenses, but all of the armed forces participated.
Thorne Island is a rocky islet and part of the community of Angle, Pembrokeshire, Wales, with an area of 2 acres (8,100 m2), dominated by a coastal artillery fort built to defend the Milford Haven Waterway in the mid-19th century. It has been the site of a number of shipwrecks, including one in 1894 that was carrying a cargo of Scotch whisky.
Fort Duvall was a Coast Artillery fort, part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston, in Massachusetts. What was then called Hog Island in Hull, Massachusetts was acquired by the U.S. government in 1917, and the fort was constructed in the early 1920s. It had only one gun battery, Battery Long, but it mounted the largest caliber weapons in the entire harbor defense system: a pair of 16-inch guns. These were the 16-inch gun M1919, of which only seven were deployed; 16-inch weapons deployed later were supplied by the Navy.
Scoveston Fort, on the northern shore of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales, U.K., is a Grade II listed building which is part of a series of forts built as the inner line of defence of the Haven following the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom.
South Hook Fort, on the northern shore of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, is a Grade II* listed building which belongs to a series of forts built as part of the inner line of defence of the Haven following the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom.
Chapel Bay Fort is located on the southern shore of the Milford Haven Waterway, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The fort is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from the village of Angle. One of a series of forts built as part of the inner line of defence of the Haven following the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, it is a Grade II Listed Building. and is also known as "Chapel Bay Battery".
Alexandra Battery is a coastal artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It was constructed at the neck of the South Mole to enfilade the coastal fortifications of Gibraltar. The battery stood on the site of several previous fortifications; it was built over the New Mole Battery, which was itself constructed on the site of an old Spanish fort in front of the Tuerto Tower.
Fort Saulsbury was a United States Army coastal defense fort near Slaughter Beach and Milford, Delaware. From 1924 to 1943 it was the primary heavy gun defense in the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware. In 1943 it was itself superseded by the longer-range 16-inch guns of Fort Miles at Cape Henlopen, Delaware, to which two of Fort Saulsbury's four guns were relocated. Fort Saulsbury was named for Willard Saulsbury Sr., a former US Senator from Delaware.
West Blockhouse Fort is a mid-19th century coastal artillery fort at West Blockhouse Point, a rocky headland near Dale, Pembrokeshire, to the west of Milford Haven in Wales.
The Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Long Island Sound and Connecticut from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The area defended included the approach via the Sound to New York City, the port cities and manufacturing centers of New London, New Haven, and Bridgeport, and eventually included the submarine base and shipyard in Groton. The command originated circa 1900 as an Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Long Island Sound in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound in 1925.