Adventures in Victorian Science Fiction & Steampunk with ramblings about Aeronefs, Dirigibles, Land Ironclads, Anarchists, Dinosaur Hunting, Terranefs, Aquanefs, Mad Scientists, electric contraptions and steam conveyances. It may not make sense, but there will be claret and a nice cheese board at the end. Tally-Ho and "Vôtre dans une sauce au vin blanc!"
Showing posts with label Colonial Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colonial Australia. Show all posts
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
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)
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
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.
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 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.
‘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
In 1859 (and with the "Russian Scare" of the Crimean War still fresh in the minds of the Australian colonies), Britain was swept with an anti-French fever whipped up by the Press as a result of the construction of the French warship La Gloire, the first armoured steam warship to be built.
In the same year the Palmerston government was forced by public opinion to set up a Royal Commission to review the defences of the United Kingdom. When the Commission reported in 1860 it recommended sweeping improvements to the defences of the Royal Dockyards at the enormous cost, in those days, of £11 million.
One result of the recommendations of the Commission was the construction of four sea forts to defend the Solent, the stretch of water between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth. These were large circular forts, one sited on a spit of land off the Isle of Wight and the other three on shoal banks in the Solent. All were built of stone and partly clad with iron and all mounted some of the largest rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns, 12.5-in 38 ton guns. At the same time a further fort was approved for the defence of Plymouth harbour. Known as the Breakwater Fort it was slightly smaller than the Solent forts and a revised, though abortive, design in 1866 included a pair of two-gun turrets on the roof of the fort.
The concept of mounting guns in turrets on coast defence forts was a very new one in the 1860s. Captain Cowper Coles RN had patented an iron revolving turret for two ‘heavy’ RML guns in 1859 and proposed the design of a number of turret ships for the Royal Navy. It was, therefore, a logical progression for British military engineers to suggest the mounting of turrets on coast defence forts.
These five forts were the only sea forts to be constructed by British military engineers. However, what is not generally known is that two similar sea forts and a tower with a turret for two guns were proposed for the defence of Melbourne in the 1860s though these were never constructed.
The turret for two 16-in RML guns mounted on the Admiralty Pier at Dover
Melbourne Sea Forts
The Crimean War and the construction of the French armoured steam warship La Gloire produced war scares not only in Britain but also in the Australian colonies. The defences of Melbourne were rudimentary at this time with the main defences being an earth battery for nine 68-pounder smooth-bore guns at Williamstown and a battery of six guns at Sandridge.
In 1859 the Victoria government requested advice on the fortification of Melbourne from the War Office in London and in August 1860 Captain Peter Scratchley arrived with the specific task of reviewing the existing defences and advising on what additional defences were required. Scratchley’s recommendations included four batteries at the Heads at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. In addition, he recommended the construction of five batteries at Sandridge and Williamstown to be reinforced by a floating battery and a wooden sea fort raised on piles in Hobson’s Bay. Despite a scare of war with the United States in 1861 only Scratchley’s proposals for the batteries for the close defence of Melbourne in Hobson’s Bay were completed in 1863 together with a battery at Shortland’s Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip Bay.
Captain Scratchley returned to England in 1863 but plans for improving the defences of Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay continued with proposals in 1865 for the construction of towers at Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale to support HMVS Cerberus, the construction of which had recently been authorised. The Point Nepean tower was designed to carry a turret for two 23 ton RML guns (12-in Mk I). The cost of the tower was estimated at £10,000 with a further £10,000 for the turret and £8,000 for the armament making a grand total of £28,000 for the completed tower. (1). It is, perhaps, not surprising, therefore, that the construction of these towers was never authorised by the government of Victoria.
A design for a sea fort mounting five turrets
In London in 1867 the Defence Committee, under the chairmanship of Admiral Grey together with Rear Admiral Cooper Key and Lieutenant Colonel Jervois, reviewed further proposals for the defence of Melbourne and concurred with a report of the Fortifications Committee that two sea forts should be built for the defence of Port Phillip Bay. The forts were to be constructed in the water on a line between Point Gellibrand and Point Ormond, a distance of approximately 6,000 yards (5,538 metres), in order to provide a line of defence that was sufficiently advanced to protect Melbourne and its shipping from long-range guns. These forts were to be similar in design to the Breakwater Fort in Plymouth harbour but smaller in size.
One fort was to be sited on a shoal 500 yards (460 metres) from Point Gellibrand and this was to be an iron casemated fort mounting 10 x 9-in 12 ton RML guns in two tiers of casemates with 2 x 10-in 18 ton RML guns in a single turret. The second fort was to be sited in 4 ½ fathoms of water 2,000 yards (1,846 metres) from the Point Gellibrand fort. The second fort was to be more heavily armed mounting 12 x 9-in 12 ton RML guns in two tiers of casemates and 4 x 10-in 18 ton RML guns in two turrets.
The cost of the fort off Point Gellibrand was estimated at £75,000 for the foundations and iron casemates; £10,000 for the turret; £25,000 for the 9-in guns; and £7,000 for the 10-in guns. The total cost coming to £117,000. The cost of the deep-water fort was even more with an estimate of £145,000 for the foundations and iron casemates; £20,000 for the two turrets; £30,000 for the 9-in guns; and £14,000 for the 10-in guns. The total cost coming to the astronomical sum, for that time, of £209,000. (2.)
The proposals for the construction of the two sea forts came at a time when Britain was reviewing its Imperial defence policy and instituting a requirement that the dominions and colonies should contribute towards their own defence. At this time Britain was also considering the withdrawal of the Imperial garrisons from Canada and the Australian colonies and had passed an act of Parliament permitting the creation of official naval forces in the colonies. Having just authorised the construction of HMVS Cerberus the government of Victoria was not inclined to fund the construction of these expensive fortifications and so the project lapsed.
- See more at: http://www.mhhv.org.au/?p=1741#sthash.RgFMlBw3.dpuf
Dawes Point (now under the southern pylon of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge) was the site of the first coastal fortification in Sydney Cove, so I thought that was a good place to start my project to explore the Colonial Defences of Sydney.
Its sited on a natural spit of land on the southern side of the harbour with a thoroughly commanding view of the approaches to Sydney Cove. It was one of three fortifications originally ordered, the others being Fort Macquarie (bottom right on the map below - which is now the site of the famous Sydney Opera House) and Fort Philip. Between them they could enfilade any ship entering the Cove.
Dawes Point (upper right on this chart) had both elevation and a commanding field of fire over the entrance to Sydney Cove - a natural place to site a shore battery to defend the young colony in Sydney Cove.
Governor Arthur Phillip's first step was to fortify the entrance to Sydney Cove in 1788, as much to provide defence should there be a convict uprising as to engage any enemy ships that might came in close to the town in a hostile manner. He gave the task to Lieutenant William Dawes, an Officer of Engineers and Artillery in the detachment of Marines, who was instructed to build a simple mud redoubt for the storage of explosives. A similar fort was erected on Cattle Point (Bennelong Point)
In October 1788, HMS Supply was dispatched to the Cape of Good Hope to purchase much needed supplies. To make as much room as possible for the purchases which it was hoped it would bring back, eight guns were taken ashore and mounted at the Dawes Point fort, which was extended to accommodate the additional firepower. In the 1830s, a more permanent structure was built with five mortars, thirteen 42 pounder cannon, a magazine and quarters for a garrison of soldiers and their commanding officer. This fort remained intact until 1929 when the section above ground was demolished to make way for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
You can see in these pics (taken by me at the site) how the battery evolved over time. As technology (and funds) permitted, priority shifted to defining the outer harbour and the entrance and the Dawes Pt Battery became obsolete. In 1925 it was demolished to make space for the southern pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In the past 20 years, the site was excavated and preserved.
Initial Battery layout with landed naval guns
Diagram of the naval gun emplacement at the first battery
Dawes Point from a early 1800s Sydney map
The Crimean War sparked fears of raids by the Russian Pacific Fleet, and the fort was redeveloped and expanded. It also became the command post for the harbour defence network.
From the Royal Australian Artillery register: In 1853 a request was sent to the UK requesting to fortify Sydney harbour. Twenty 32 pounder and twenty 56 pounder guns were asked for and in 1854 twenty seven 32 pounders were despatched and five 42 pounders were substituted for the heavier 56 pounders. The five 42 pounder guns were mounted in the upper battery of Dawes Battery near the present site of the southern pylon of Sydney Harbour Bridge. A further five 42 pounders had been landed by 1861 and emplaced in new emplacements at Fort Macquarie (site of the present day Sydney Opera House).
With the expansion of outer harbour defences, the fort was reduced in size and obsolete guns decommissioned
The battery was demolished in 1925 and by 1932 the new bridge was completed.
This is how it looks today (well, this week when I visited it anyway!)
The Upper Battery survived until demolition and is now directly under the pylons of the bridge (that the brick structure to the right of the remaining gun). You can see the remnants of the other gun platforms after their excavation around 10 years ago.
The surviving 42 pdr and carriage in the Upper Battery
The commanding field of fire from the Upper Battery
Dawes Pt Upper Battery circa 1875-1880 (pic from NSW Art Gallery)
The Lower Battery
Lower Battery with 32 pdr RMLs, 1870s
Lower Battery emplacement today (with 42 pdr RML)
Similarly commanding fields of fire over the centre of the harbour and the entrance to Sydney Cove
Overall, a nice bit of colonial history tucked away under the bridge where you wont find it unless you know its there. Clearly a pivotal position for close defence of the colony both in its early days and throughout the Victorian era.
