Bradleys Head Battery, Sydney

Bradleys Head Battery is a coastal fortification on the inner north shore of Sydney harbour, initially constructed 1840-42 by convicts on the order of Governor Gipps.

Bradleys Head and its commanding position on the inner North shore of Port Jackson (Sydney)

Unlike most of the Sydney fortifications, it’s origins are unrelated to the Russian Invasion scare prompted by the Crimean war. It is the result a different scare that happened in 1839, when the colony’s residents awoke to find two American warships (sloop of war Peacock and sloop of war Vincennes) quietly sitting at anchor having entered the harbour undetected.

In his later autobiography, the American Commander then Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, US Navy, (later Rear Admiral) said:

"If [we had been] enemies, it would have been in our power before daylight to have fired all the Shipping and store houses, laid the town under contribution and departed unhurt."

As a result, immediate improvements were made to the defence of the colony, which at this point had been reliant on at this point were Fort Phillip, Dawes point and Bennelong batteries.

Bradleys Head’s original construction was a cannon embrasure and a firing wall, using sandstone blocks to reinforce the naturally rocky outcropping. 24 pounder ML guns were installed, with commanding fields of fire down the entrance to the harbour.

The departure of the last British regular soldiers in 1870 saw another expansion of Sydney’s fortifications which included new batteries on North and South Head.  Bradley’s Head battery was expanded with three additional embrasures added , equipped with 68 pounders, and a rifleman’s gallery, all connected by tunnels and served by underground magazines, plus a barracks.

SBML 68-pounder gun and emplacement constructed 1871

With the addition of longer ranged breach loading weapons arrayed along the harbour entrance, the utility of the inner harbour defences was significantly reduced. Bradley’s Head ceased operation in 1903, was non-operational by WW1, and dismantled after WW2. In 1961 all coastal batteries were declared obsolete and the site was handed to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife for conservation.

Postcript:

In 1934 the masthead of the Royal Australian Navy Light Cruiser HMAS SYDNEY was erected at the end of Bradleys Head, having been saved from the breaker’s, to serve as a memorial for that ship and the country’s first naval battle (and Victory) at sea, over the SMS EMDEN in 1915.

The memorial was later expanded in the 1960s with memorials for other RAN ships lost during WW2, including HMA Ships SYDNEY (II), PERTH and CANBERRA.

This is now the premier monument of the Royal Australian Navy, and all warships salute this memorial when entering or leaving Sydney.

**The point is named after named after Lieutenant William Bradley, RN, second-in-command of the First Fleet and First Lieutenant of the Fleet’s flagship, HMS Sirius, which entered Sydney Cove in 1788 to begin British settlement in Australia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradleys_Head_Fortification_Complex

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Bradleys_Head_Fortification_Complex

The Little Fort, Sydney Harbour

The Little Battery

The headland at Mrs Macquarie’s Point also had strategic value in the early defence of Sydney Harbour. The first example of its military use was a response to the fears of foreign invasion during the Crimean War (1853-1856). 

Little Fort at Mrs Macquarie’s Point with HMS Liverpool facing Garden Island c. 1870
National Library of Australia.

In 1856 Mrs Macquarie’s Point was equipped with a ‘masked battery’ of ten artillery pieces. These were mostly naval type cannons arranged above and behind Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. The battery was composed of a rammed earth and concrete defilade (wall) fitted with embrasures.

It was commonly referred to as ‘the little fort’, usually in association with Mrs Macquarie’s Point, and had great fields of fire into the waters through which any raiders had to pass:

The following excerpt from the Sydney Morning Herald (Friday 13 May 1859) describes the state of inner harbour defence was like at the time, including a description of this fort:

We have now to call attention to the most picturesque fort of the whole, namely, that at Macquarie Point, near Lady Macquarie's Chair. It is on the northern extremity of the promontory dividing Woolloomooloo Bay from Farm Cove, is east of Fort Macquarie 750 yards, south of Fort Denison 666 yards, south-west of Bradley's Head 2525 yards. The work consists of a masked earth work battery, flanked with mason work of great strength, and mounting eight thirty-two pounders, on garrison carriages. On each flank there is a circular work of masonry, mounting two 10-inch mortars on travelling platforms. In connection with this fort there is a magazine for 100 barrels of powder ; and the battery is faced by a dry moat. It covers Fort Denison front and rear, and also affords a direct fire on Bradley's Head. Three contractors took part in the erection of this fortification, namely, Mr. Donovon, Messrs. Carlisle and Goddard, and latterly Mr. Goddard alone, who is now just completing the ditch.

From: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13024891

By the early 1870s, the concern over foreign invasion had all but dissipated. The guns were removed and the emplacement buried. An archaeological excavation and subsequent report were undertaken in 1989 on the Masked Battery, after which it was promptly buried again to preserve the site.

Of interest, this is the broader view of Garden Island from Mrs Macquarie's point where the Little Fort was located, in 1877. I was fortunate to live on the left hand most landmass for about 6 years (it became attached to the mainland with the construction of the Dry Dock during WW2).

The Defence of Melbourne, Redux?

Great to catch with a gaming mate recently (lets call him Dave, mostly because thats his name). Of course was showing him my recently completed Crimean Russians, to which he said "put those against my Maori Wars British and we can play the Defence of Melbourne". Mind. Blown. 

Of course we could- we should! We Must!

Real life constraints (such as living in different countries and indeed hemispheres) make this a slower burn project for 18 months or so) but regardless the neurons have been enthusiastically fired, so I'm in research mode now and revisiting this long enjoyed topic topic but with alt-history in mind instead of VSF flavour (at least for now anyway!)

Since I last considered this topic (admittedly a decade or more ago) a local historian has done some fabulous research and self published the outcomes, particularly in these two volumes:

This is interesting to me as I used to live in Hobson's bay and walk past this battery frequently

A review of this latter title here:

https://www.mhhv.org.au/lines-in-the-sand-hobsons-bay-defences-of-williamstown-sandridge-1854-1871-by-keith-quinton/

Both are available from here - unfortunately like many print on demand/low print count the costs for hardcopies are...considerable. However, the author Keith Quinton has kindly made pdf versions available at cup of coffee prices, which I am enjoying now.

https://au.blurb.com/user/keithquinton

Of course I did suggest to Dave that perhaps an assault on the colonial fortification of Fort Scratchley in Newcastle might be a good initial fight. But like me, he grew up in Melbourne and wants to do the big one!

In the meantime, I'll get cracking on the next Russian battalion!

The ‘Right Battery’ at Williamstown, Fort Gellibrand. 

(Image from the Military History and Heritage Victoria website)

And not forgetting this cracking scenario from Space 1889, set exactly at this spot! 

Scenario from GDW's "Ironclad & Ether Flyers" (1990), page 37

Ben Buckler Disappearing Gun Emplacement, Sydney

Earlier fortifications focused on inner harbour defences, but technology had rapidly progressed in the intervening years to require Sydney's approaches and entrance itself to become the focus.

In 1871 a string of works were undertaken in Sydney at outer and inner Middle Head, Georges Head, South Head, Steele Point and Bradleys Head. However, improvements in armaments led to continual redundancy of the fortifications by the 1880's. 

The batteries, including Ben Buckler, were aimed to maximise the new gun technologies of the era, and as a deterrent to hostile attack by increasingly efficient naval vessels bombarding the city from outside the harbour. Coastal guns were used in a 'counter-bombardment' role - to repel armed ships approaching, passing or bombarding population centres like Sydney. They had to be equal to the power of ship-mounted guns, and were used in association with smaller guns aimed at attacking vessels entering port along with other harbour defence systems such as mines and torpedo boats. 

The "Bondi Battery" was located under the now public parkland,
commanding the southern approach to Sydney Harbour from seaward.

Constructed in 1893, the Ben Buckler Gun Emplacement (aka "Bondi Battery") is one of the last coastal fortifications built in the colonial era, prior to Australia's Federation in 1901. Fitted with a 9.2inch naval gun, it one the last part of Sydney's outer defence perimeter and the culmination of the iterative fortification of Sydney since the Crimean War. It was no easy task:

"A Sydney Mail report said that, owing to the steepness and bad condition of the tracks, 35 horses were needed to drag the 20-tonne gun barrel, and when the wheels of the trolley sank deep into the ground a crane had to be employed. The operation took four weeks."

"'When in position, the gun will be able to pay considerable attention to any man-of-war attempting to bombard the city off Bondi,' was the opinion of a correspondent to the Sydney Illustrated News "

The 9.2 inch breech-loading gun types were originally designed for the Royal Navy. An 1879 British Ordinance Committee had earlier identified the need for Britain and its colonies to be able to match arms developments such as those of the German Imperial Army and Navy (Krupp guns). 

The Ben Buckler ('Bondi') Battery - specifics 

The three single guns batteries each consisted of a gun pit that incorporated a Mark '6' 9.2" (234mm) British-made breech-loading Armstrong hydro-pneumatic or 'disappearing' gun. The disappearing guns were prevalent at the end of the nineteenth century throughout Britain, its colonies and the United States. They were chosen because of their range and power, and upon firing and recoil, the gun retracted into its concealed pit and was therefore a lesser target to attacking naval vessels. The domed metal shield that covered the gun pit was devised to deflect incoming shells striking the battery. 

During the late nineteenth century, ten (10) 9.2" breech-loading 'counter bombardment' guns of this type were established in Australia. These comprised three (3) at Sydney's eastern suburb batteries (one being at Bondi) plus a spare barrel; four (4) in Victoria at Fort Nepean and Queenscliff, and two (2) in South Australia (purchased in 1888). The Adelaide guns were never established into Fort Glenelg but were bought back by the British government in 1915. 

The Sydney guns were purchased with three (3) hydro-pnuematic mounts and had the following serial numbers: Shark Point: #7317; Signal Hill: #7318; Bondi: #7319, and the spare: #7320. Of these guns, only the Signal Hill, Vaucluse barrel survives on public display at the Royal Australian Artillery Museum at North Fort, North Head. 

The Armstrong Foundry gun at Ben Buckler was cast in 1891 and established within its concrete casemate in 1893. The casemate allegedly had ten-metre (10m) thick concrete walls. Transportation of the gun from the Victoria Barracks, Sydney, involved a team of thirty-six horses and took three (3) weeks. The gun weighed 22 tons and was installed on an EOC Hydro-pneumatic Mark '1' disappearing mount, operated by hydraulic power. The gun was fired through a slot in the iron 'top' shield and could fire a 172-kilogram armour piecing projectile to a range of 8200 metres (8.2 kilometres). 

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald of April 1908 reported the findings of a Board of Enquiry into the premature firing of the Ben Buckler gun - illustrative of the dangers associated with this technology. 

It was not until the 1920s that Australian coastal defence sites began to be re-equipped with modern breech-loading 9.2" naval guns. These comprised the seven two-gun 'Mark 10' 9.2" batteries completed by World War Two. The new Sydney batteries comprised North Fort at North Head, and the Banks Battery at La Perouse. These sites still exist (minus the guns). 

Current Status
The Ben Buckler gun site has survived today through a series of unique events. Obsolete by the outbreak of World War Two, the gun was held in reserve. With the Federal military disposal program after the war, the majority of coastal gun fortifications were dismantled.  

The Australian coastal defence guns were generally offered for sale to be cut up for scrap value. No buyer was obtained for the Ben Buckler gun so it was allegedly buried under direction of Waverley Council in the 1950's, complete with its hydraulic raising mechanism and concrete emplacement works. The work allegedly involved the dumping of five feet of sand into and over the emplacement which was then incorporated into public grasslands.  

The gun's existence was forgotten until disturbance by excavation trench works associated with the Bondi sewerage treatment works in 1984. The exposed top of the concrete casemate was uncovered by mechanical diggers, photographed and surveyed by the (then) Waterboard Authority. The existence of the fortification led to its inclusion in the Waverley Heritage Study commissioned by council in 1990. At that time, the approximate location of the site was added to a modern plan of the Hugh Bamford Reserve. The gun is believed to have been retained within the below-ground level emplacement, although its existence has not been confirmed. The gun site remains/survives as a 'buried archaeological feature'.

From: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5056455

https://celebrating.waverley.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/43819#idx86269

More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Buckler_Gun_Battery

Fort Denison, Sydney

Situated in the central approaches to the harbour, this natural island could not be more ideally situated to defend Sydney Cove.  Originally named Pinchgut Island (allegedly because that is where convicts were held on starvation ration for short periods), the rosy outcrop began its transformation in 1841 when Governor ordered the island to be fortified. Construction began in 1841, but progress was slow and often hampered by funding issues.

Artist's rendering of the original rocky island feature

This work was undertaken with convict labour without Imperial authorisation, which caused further angst.  

The Crimean War of 1854 and the threat to the colony posed by the strong Russian Pacific Fleet reinvigorated the project, and the new Governor of NSW Sir William Denison added his enthusiasm.  The Martello tower with its distinctive circular fortification was completed in 1857. 

Fort Denison pre-1885 loop-hole flank defences and seawall work

The only Martello tower to constructed in Australia and the last one built in the British Empire, it was originally equipped with two 10 inch guns (in the tower) and 12 x 8inch guns.

32 pounder guns installed as the tower was being built around them, so everything is authentic. They are dated to the reign of George III so they were old when they were installed. These are identical to the guns on the lower gun deck of HMS Victory.

Commencing in 1906, one of the Fort's gun was fired (without shot!) at 1.00 pm each day as the Sydney Observatory time ball was seen to drop. This was the signal which navigators used to synchronise their chronometers. This practice continues to today and if you go out to the island, they let someone from the crowd fire the gun - my Father in law did it on the day we visited because it was his birthday.

It has the distinction of having come under attack from U.S. friendly fire in 1942 when the tower was damaged by the heavy cruiser USS Chicago, as she opened fire on Japanese submarines at night during the Battle of Sydney.


Another interesting anecdote (from Wikipedia): In October 1900, as the Boer war raged in Africa, the White Star Line ship SS Medic sailed into Sydney Harbour and dropped anchor in Neutral Bay. One night, the fourth officer, Charles Lightoller and two shipmates rowed to Fort Denison and climbed the tower with a plan to fool locals into believing a Boer raiding party was attacking Sydney. They hoisted a makeshift Boer flag on the lightning conductor and fired a harmless wad of cotton waste from one of the 8-inch cannons.^[5][6] The blast shattered a few of the fort's windows but caused no other damage. 

Charles Lightoller was never apprehended but confessed to his company's superiors and related the whole story in an autobiography. He was transferred to the Atlantic route and went on to be the second officer of the RMS Titanic and the most senior officer to survive the sinking of the ship. He was a key witness at both the British and American inquiries into the disaster.

West view from the South Bastion

Bare Island Fort, Sydney

Bare Fort was part of the secondary defences of Sydney, not in the main harbour area but guarding the entrance to the industrial Port Botany, some 10 miles south. 

It was built on an existing natural sandstone island. Captain Cook first spotted the area now known as Bare Island in 1770, and referred to it in his journal as 'a small bare island'.

It was part of the latter ear of Colonial fortification to protect against "lighting raids" by enemy cruiser squadrons who could hold the city to ransom. It was built 1881-89 and marred by construction and design problems throughout.

Bare Island circa 1973

The garrison was approximately 70 men to crew the main armament: two RML 9 inch 12 ton guns, two RML 80 pounder guns, RML 10 inch 18 ton gun in an armoured casemate, and two five–barreled 0.45-inch (1.1 cm)Nordenfelt guns for close defence. The fortifications consist of five gun emplacements arranged symmetrically in an arc and linked by underground tunnels to reduce crew exposure to shot and shell.

The garrison was iteratively reduced in the years following federation and by 1912 was turned into a War Veterans home, the first of its kind in Australia.  Some of the guns were sold for scrap during the 1930s depression.

It was reoccupied by a small detachment in WW2, during which time Major General Whitelaw, in charge of coastal defence, had the following to say of Bare Island Fort in his memoirs;

"The Bare Island Section was to say the least rather a quaint military organisation, one officer, a sergeant, two bombardiers and about ten gunners.  Their main armament comprised two 3 pounder Hotchkiss QF guns which I understand had come from the RAN.  I suspect from their age they may well have beeen in service with the Colonial Navies before the turn of the century.  They were rifled but the years and rust had taken its toll and somewhat smoothed the bore.  The ammunition however was bright and shiny.  The other equipment was quite rudimentary – a telephone and a Hall beach light.  I don’t recall any range finding arrangements.

The charm of Bare Island lay in the barracks and the fortifications and the dozen or so old war veterans in residence.  Sometime between the wars the barracks had been set up as a war veterans’ home.  After a night’s duty and completing the dawn “stand-to” there was nothing more pleasant than to sit in the sun with one or two of the old gentlemen and hear their tales of days past.  To add to the pleasure would be a swim at Congwong Bay en route to Henry Head.

Bare Island must be counted as a gem of colonial military architecture.  Importantly, it was established to control the entrance to Botany Bay in the 1880s.  It had quite a formidable armament – two RML 9 inch 12 ton guns and two RML 80 pounder guns mounted en barbette, together with an impressive RML 10 inch 18 ton mounted in an armoured casemate.  The Fort in those far off days also boasted two 5 barrel 0.45 inch Nordenfelt machine guns on field mountings.  I didn’t see where they were kept but imagine they were housed on the mainland.  There was only one gun of the old armament visible – a 9 inch RML piece lying somewhat forlornly by the causeway inscribed “struck off charge 1923″.  The gun had apparently graced one of the emplacements which had been modified to receive a BL 6 inch Mark 5 gun on a disappearing (hydro-pneumatic) mounting which was emplaced in the late 1890s, about the time the Henry Head Battery was established with two similar guns.  My interest was taken by one of the veterans telling of the 10 inch gun in the armoured casemate.  He said they couldn’t get it out and they wanted the space for a billiard room for the veterans.  the solution was to excavate the rock floor under the gun and lower it;  cement it over, and install the billard table above it.  On inspecting the casemate there was no sign of the gun but the window occupying the embrasure took my eye, as it is not often one sees a small casement window with floral curtains fitted into a piece of15 inch armoured plate.  Apart from the four major emplacements on the ridge of the small island there were a couple of command posts and cut into the rock on the landward side, a rather elegant barracks to accommodate perhaps about 50 troops.  The barracks were built of sandstone, two storeys with verandahs, barracks rooms, NCO and officers quarters, orderly room, mess, kitchen and storerooms, all complete and operating and with direct access to the magazines and emplacements.  For local defence there was a loopholed wall connecting with the cliffs on either flank.  As for the soldiers of Bare Section, they seemed to be quite well catered for in this pleasant seaside barracks.  They tended the venerable 3 pounders mounted on the glacis in front of the RML 10 inch casemate.  It was really quite primitive at that time as the guns were simply mounted in the open on their cone mountings with no emplacements or protection.  Perhaps the refinements came later.  They were a happy crew who carried out their duties and drills to everyone’s satisfaction.  No doubt they kept the Japanese from Botany Bay, certainly they were much appreciated by the old veterans."

Beehive Casemate, Middle Head, Sydney

Beehive Casemate is a Colonial era fortification at Obelisk Bay, a small inslet within Sydney Harbour.  Construction was part of the wider defensive network and took place from 1871-1874.  The underground Casemate was one of the first to be locally designed and built after the withdrawal of British troops in 1870 as part of the Cardwell Reforms (under these reforms the  Australian and NZ colonies became responsible for their own land defence and small British army garrisons were replaced with locally raised units)

Three 3.7m by 2.1m high gunports in the cliff face

The fortification is built into the natural cliff face and contains three domed chambers that were used as gun emplacements, each chamber having a gunport with fields of fire to fire towards Sydney heads. They were intended to fire on enemy ships as they navigated the passages around Sow & Pigs Reef, within the entrance to Sydney Harbour. The underground chambers are of brick and mortar and were built into the excavated cavities in the sandstone bedrock.

Excellent fields of fire towards the entrance to Sydney Harbour

The Beehive Casemate was reinforced by another fortification above and adjacent to it, which would have added plunging fire to the direct waterline fire from the three Beehive guns.

Fort Warrnambool, Victoria

‘1884 Field Artillery Gun overlooking the sea on Cannon hill, Warrnambool’,
Libraries Australia ID 49408382 

Warrnambool Fort, also known as Warrnambool Garrison and Flagstaff Hill, was a new site built as part of a wider state upgrade in Victoria's coastal defences in the late 19th century.  The original coastal defence battery in Warrnambool was an earthen emplacement for Smooth Bore gun on Cannon Hill, about one Kilometre west of the new battery at Flagstaff Hill.

The original battery on Cannon Hill, from the Warnambool and District Historical Society. It shows a (probable) 32pdr smoothbore muzzle loading gun in the 1860s.  Compare with the photo above.

In 1877, Royal Engineer Officers, Major General Sir William Jervois and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Scratchley, published their report with the basis for coastal defence for the next thirty years in New Zealand and Australia. On Friday 4th February 1887, it was reported in the Warrnambool Standard , that tenders were let by the Public Works Department for the construction of a two gun battery at Warrnambool.

Two 80-pdr RML guns were part of a consignment of twenty-six guns sent to Australia in December 1866. These two guns were mounted in the new fortification in 1887, and the original guns from Cannon Hill were re-sited to the new battery location at the same time.  In front of each gun is a semi circular concrete wall with a mound of earth separating each emplacement from in front and to the sides, protecting the neighbouring gun crews from any potential explosions. Built into the fort in between each gun emplacement is infantry parapet allowing them to defend the Fort from ground attack with small arms fire. By November of that year, the 80 pounders were being used for live fire training.

"A target was moored out to sea at a range of about 960 yards. Major Helpman fired the first shot which proved to be a well-directed one as the shell struck the target shattering it into fragments. The concussion from the firing of the guns caused the whole of the ruby glass in the lower lighthouse to be broken."

The original wooden carriages (which can be seen on site) were replaced by iron garrison carriages in 1888. In 1898 a further upgrade saw an Armstrong 5-inch Breach loading gun on a hydro-pneumatic (disappearing) mounting - effective round approx 5000 yards - was installed between the two existing 80-pdr RML gun emplacements. 

In 1910 the Fort was decommissioned, the original 80pdrs relocated a displays to Cannon Hill (see first pic in this post), and the 5-inch gun was sent to the Suez Canal(!)  Two mobile 4.7-inch naval guns where then used to arm the local artillery battery but were employed mostly at Lake Gilear firing range until the battery was dissolved upon outbreak of WW1.

The 80pdrs were returned to Flagstaff Hill in 1973 and the site, badly overgrown by now, was fully reconditioned as a heritage project. On the 100th anniversary of the Fort the 80pdr guns underwent a full overhaul and renovation of Australia Army apprentices. Fort Warrambool was one of three defensive works built in the area in the 1880s. The other batteries were Portland Battery and Port Fairy Battery. A brief summary of the Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland Batteries and volunteer units serving them, prepared by David McGinness, can be downloaded here.

Local volunteers conduct a (blank) firing at Fort Warranmbool, 2013.

The Battery's 1887 fit of 2 x 80 pounder guns as seen today at the Flagstaff Hill Fort:

Mounting for the 5 inch BL gun, between the 80 pdrs

 

https://www.naa.gov.au/blog/colonial-victorias-unsung-defender

Attack on the Williamstown Batteries

THE MONITOR CERBERUS ATTACKING THE WILLIAMSTOWN BATTERIES AND H.M.S. NELSON

Source: The Illustrated Australian News, 23 April 1872

The Attack by the Cerberus

The Williamstown division of the Naval Reserve went on board the Black Eagle at half-past nine a.m., and proceeded to the Sandridge Town River, where they joined the rest of the brigade.

The full strength of men and officers was 178, of whom 112 were detached to the Nelson, under the command of Captain Fullarton, while 70 men under the Lieuts. Steel, Elder and Surgeon Curtis joined the Cerberus, the crew of which numbered 129 all told, but there were on Monday, in addition, several of the Nelson boys on board. So soon as the men were at their posts the vessel left her moorings and proceeded under easy steam down the bay, all the men being kept under cover, and Captain Panter, who was in command, being stationed in the commander's box, so that not a soul was visible as the ship left the harbour. After proceeding some little distance the Cerberus went at full speed, which however did not exceed seven knots an hour, the two masts were struck, and were converted for the nonce into an apparatus for catching torpedoes, they being set out in front of the ship, and connected together by a spar 45 feet long, to which half a dozen grapnels were attached. By the time this work had been executed, the ship had gone some twelve miles from the lightship, in the direction of Portarlington. The men went to dinner, and the Cerberus commenced to retrace her course, her head being directed to the mouth of the Koroit Creek, about three miles west of the Williamstown lighthouse. Refreshments over, both with officers and men, preparations were made for action. The various coverings were fastened down, and the turrets were manned by the Naval Reserve, Lieut.Elder, with the Williamstown division, forming the crew of the fore, and Lieut, Steele with the Sandridge men, that of the after. Each cupola requires in addition to the captain of the turret who directs the gun, and the captain of each gun who is responsible for the elevation, a crew of ten, five to each gun. There were, therefore, besides the lieutenant in charge, thirteen men in each turret. Twelve were, in addition, required at each to work the guns in and out, eight for the magazine, and two powder monkeys. In actual warfare eight additional men would engage in serving shell.

CONDITION OF SHIP

On her trip down the bay the Cerberus had, owing to the foulness of her bottom, steered very badly, and Captain Panter therefore decided upon working his ship from the hurricane deck in order to avoid any risk of getting aground. In addition the commander, six men who were engaged in steering, were men exposed to the enemy's fire. One gun had become disabled during the drill on the previous Saturday owing to a trifling injury to one of the cogs in the wheels of the carriage. So that it had to be sponged from the outside. With these and some minor exceptions, the Cerberus was in the same condition that she would be in actual service. All the railings around the ship were let go, and everything made as snug as possible.

COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION

A few minutes before three o'clock, the Cerberus having gone as close in shore as she could with safety, two men being kept all the time in the chains heaving the lead, she steamed from the mouth of the Kororoit Creek towards Williamstown. At 3 p.m., a shot was fired from one of the Williamstown batteries, and immediately afterwards the Cerberus commenced to take the right centre, and lighthouse fortifications in flank. The enormous weight of her metal, her guns carrying 4 cwt. shell, and requiring 30lb of powder, enabled her to shell the shore defences with little or no risk to herself. Since none of them could do execution at more than 2000 yards, while the guns of the Cerberus could carry double that distance: beside which the embrasures of the Williamstown batteries did not cover the attacking ship, which had kept so far to the westward as to be completely outside the strip of sea commanded by the fortifications. After firing several shots, and then a broadside, the Cerberus steamed out of the reach of the fire from the Williamstown right and centre batteries, and then went up again to attack the Nelson. While doing this she was exposed to the fire of the Williamstown lighthouse battery, which kept up the ball manfully. The great feature of defence was, however, the Nelson; which, after firing at long distances the large one hundred and fifty pounders from her forecastle, kept up a very heavy discharge from her three decks, the gallant old ship being warped in such a manner as to keep her broadside to the Cerberus. She, on her part, went close in, raked her adversary fore and aft, and then steamed towards Sandridge shores, where she engaged the western battery, which has latterly been erected in the direction of Fisherman's Bend. This defence, and the three others on the same shore, viz, the lagoon, the central and the St Kilda right, blazed away at the Cerberus, which did not go close enough in to run much risk. At no time was she within 1500 yards from any Sandridge batteries, while to the western she was never nearer than 2000 yards. The Nelson, however, was not idle, for notwithstanding the heavy fire she had been sustaining for so long, she kept up a brisk discharge at the Cerberus long after that ship had gone clear away from Williamstown and was on the Sandridge side of the Bay.

FIRING RATE

At 3.30 p.m., after having fired 114 shots, 100 with 30 lb, of powder, and 14 with 40, the Cerberus went out of action and returned to her moorings, it not being thought prudent to go near the batteries in the direction of Emerald-hill, in consequence of the shoal water. There was no means of ascertaining what damage has been done to the defending force, but the attacking vessel had not gone through the engagement scathless, The concussion of the enormous guns had not only broken every pane of glass in the ship, but had actually started the iron work around the armor (sic) plating. A piece of iron 2½ inches, which fastened one of the boats' davits to the deck had been moved several inches by the wind of a gun, and the covering to the wardroom ventilator had been carried away, debris going on to the mess table, and demolishing the remains of the luncheon. Everything moveable had been completely destroyed, and all that in nautical parlance is styled gingerbread work had been shaken to atoms. The chart house had suffered very severely, the shutters were strewn on the deck, and the contents of the erection were everywhere but in their right place. The noise when the guns were fired was almost deafening, and, but for the precaution that some of the visitors had adopted at the suggestion of Dr. Curtis, of stopping their ears with cotton wool, their (sic) might have been permanent injury to there (sic) tympana. A man named John Gray, of the Williamstown division, while engaged to the fore battery sustained a contusion of the thigh while the guns were being run out, and one or two others received trifling injuries which did not necessitate the interference of the surgeon. The gunnary (sic) was remarkably well managed. It would be impossible to ascertain how the guns were served so far as direction and elevation were concerned, but there is no doubt of the rapidity of the fire. At one time during the engagement there was a shot from each cannon every minute and a half, and the men were working with great activity and smartness. Indeed, considering the comparatively rare occasions that they have of being drilled on board the Cerberus their proficiency was both creditable and remarkable. The ship stood the concussion very well indeed, her guns had never before fired over the bow and stern, so that her raking the Nelson as a parting shot was rather experimental, but no injury was done to any portion of her framework. The great advantage she has over the batteries, and even almost any other vessel afloat, is the ease with which she is manoeuvred - she turns in a little more than her length, almost as if she were on a pivot - and the distance at which her enormous guns will do deadly execution. After mooring the Cerberus the Black Eagle came off with the men who had been on board the Nelson, and the officers and men left the Cerberus with three cheers for Captain Panter.

THE NELSON

Captain Fullarton, together with Sub-Lieutenants Bland and Blomb, Surgeon McLean, and 110 men proceeded on board the Nelson shortly after 10 a.m. and, after exercising the crew at the main deck guns and getting their dinner, they ran out heavy warps and anchored so as to move the ship into such a position as to be able to fire a broadside into the Cerberus when she approached, and afterwards to shift position so as to continue the fire after the attacking ship had passed and was proceeding towards Sandridge. While the Cerberus was engaging the Williamstown batteries the Nelson fired her 150 pounders, and so soon as the Monitor got within range the 32 pounders on the main deck were manned, and a heavy fire was kept up, not only while the Cerberus was coming up, but long afterwards. While just abeam broadside were fired both from the main and lower decks 64 pounders. The total number of shots fired was 700. The guns were all manned by the Naval Reserve, the ship's boys being employed as powder-monkeys, and the ship's company kept hard at work in the magazine. Had he Nelson got under way the general effect would have been much heightened, and the old ship would have shown what she really could do. The men behaved admirably throughout, and the rapidity of their firing was beyond praise.

SANDRIDGE AND WILLIAMSTOWN

The steamer Gem, was busy all the forenoon in ferrying spectators over to Williamstown, where the attack would commence. Sandridge, like St Kilda and the whole intervening beach, was even more active than if the invasions had been actual Crowds assembled on the Railway and Town Piers, the vessel at the seaward ends being quite black with people, with hundreds of men and boys swarming up the masts and out along the bowsprits. Young Australians evinced their pluck by climbing right to the top masts and spreading on the highest yards. At little more than five minutes after two o'clock the first puff of white smoke was seen to rise from the other side of Williamstown and a boom came across the waters, indicating that the invading Cerberus was at hand. The cannonade thenceforward became brisk, as the Cerberus ran the gauntlet of the three Williamstown batteries, returning the fire of each. Then the old Nelson joined in, and altogether there was tremendous hurly burly of firing, so completely enveloping Williamstown in smoke as to render it invisible from Sandridge. The Gem, on her way across, had to steer for a time by bearings, for no Williamstown was in sight. Her voyagers smelt powder, for once in their lives, as strongly as if they were in the midst of a naval engagement. It was just like a fog all around , and the general opinion expressed was that powder smelt just like fog too. In a minute or two the shore batteries at Sandridge and Fisherman's Bend, towards the mouth of the Yarra, set to work. What the last named battery was blazing at formed a puzzle to everybody, unless it was the Russian man-of-war Isamroud, which lay beautifully in its line of fire, with the great white national flag, crossed by St Andrew's cross in blue flapping lazily at her mizen. Anyhow, the gunners could be seen as active as ants, hopping about round their cannons in the scrub, and every now and again sending out a puff. No doubt it was excellent practice. When the Cerberus had rounded the breakwater at Williamstown it was, of course, futile for the batteries there to waste any more powder, but the Nelson peppered away to the last, firing parting shots after the monater as it proceeded grimly on its way to silence the Sandridge battery. Hundreds of country folk were at Sandridge and Williamstown, who never saw the Cerberus before. Some called it the "building", others the "animal" but few could bring themselves to regard it as a ship. The Cerberus, by the way, has been new painted lately. She is now of a grey color all over, including the funnel. It was a fine spectacle to see her exchanging shots with the Sandridge battery. The explosions from her big guns are terrible, and the manner in which the smoke goes circling rapidly upon the surface of the ocean, as if unwinding itself, shows the force with which the charge is expelled. The sightseers had their fill truly.