Stony Batter is a historic defence installation at the north-eastern end of

Waiheke Island Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most pop ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is sited within a 50-acre (200,000 m²) scenic reserve of the same name, owned by the

New Zealand Department of Conservation The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand Conservation Au ...

(DOC). The park serves double duty as a historical (Category 1 Historic Place) and nature reserve, containing unusual rock formations, associated with an extinct volcano, three significant bush blocks and three concrete gun emplacements with an extensive tunnel system,Stony Batter Historic Reserve, Waiheke Island
(from the

website) reputed to be the largest in New Zealand.

Counterbattery

History

Stony Batter was part of a counter-bombardment battery system progressively being installed in the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Whangaparaoa The Whangaparaoa Peninsula is a suburban area about 25 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. It had 30,672 residents in 2013, many of them in the eponymous town of Whangaparaoa on its southern side. It is part of the Hibiscus Coast. ...

Motutapu Island Motutapu Island (otherwise known as ''Motutapu'') is a island in the Hauraki Gulf to the northeast of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. The island is part of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park. Its full name, rarely used, is ''Te Motutapu a Taikeh ...

and at Stony Batter, as well as having observation posts such at

Rangitoto Island Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand. The wide island is a symmetrical shield volcano cone, reaching a height of . Rangitoto is the youngest and largest of the approximately 50 volcanoes of the Au ...

(command post) and

Tiritiri Matangi Island Tiritiri Matangi Island is located in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, east of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula in the North Island and north east of Auckland. The island is an open nature reserve managed by the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Incorpo ...

, it was supposed to engage enemy naval forces entering the inner gulf. Ranges would have been too far beyond the line of sight (over 30 km, thus the need for a complex set of observation points and communication lines),Stony Batter Historic Reserve, Waiheke Island - Counter bombardment battery
(from the

website) as well as at least initially beyond the range of most enemy ships' ability to retaliate. While approved in 1939, construction was delayed for cost reasons until German raiders were sighted in New Zealand waters during 1940–1941, as well as the war entry of Japan in late 1941, suddenly turned it into a high-priority project. In 1942, the site on Waiheke was chosen, but it took until early 1943 before the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

was finally tasked with construction after other contractors declined the job. Construction began in October 1943, and it was initially thought that the battery would take 12 months to complete. Delays were caused by the remote location, which at first had no road access, and also by the fact that the project was kept in strict secrecy, requiring with a large degree of self-sufficiency during the construction period, complete with its own living facilities and machine shops. The new battery was generally referred to only as A2, to conceal its location. The tunnels and underground chambers were quarried by hand, with

formwork Formwork is Molding (process), molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast concrete, precast or cast-in-place concrete, cast-in-place. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering mold ...

for the walls and ceilings, then filled with

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

(

reinforcing steel Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concrete under tension. ...

was not used due to shortages). Aggregate was obtained from the prominent rocky outcrops, giving Stony Batter its name. The tunnels and chambers were designed based on plans of the Tawa Flat railway tunnels project. The work on the installations, sans guns, was completed behind schedule in 1944, and had by then ballooned from initial estimates of £140,000 to £327,966, excluding the costs of the guns. By 1945, the immediate threat of war had subsided, and many of the workers were transferred to work on the hydroelectric plants built on the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

. By 1955, all material that could be deteriorated was removed from the site. Construction of the battery was, however, considered a major feat of engineering, carried out under particularly difficult circumstances. As the tides of war turned, only two

BL 9.2-inch Mk IX – X naval gun The BL 9.2-inch Mk IX and Mk X gunsMk IX = Mark 9, Mk X = Mark 10. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence these were the ninth and tenth models of BL 9.2-inch gun. were British breech loa ...

s were installed, one in 1944, and one in 1948. The third gun was cancelled before shipment. Never fired except for testing and training purposes, the guns were dismantled and sold for scrap in 1961. An extensive vineyard on the surrounding privately owned farm is also named after the installation.Stony Batter Estate
(from the 'kiwiwineries.com' website. Accessed 2008-01-10.) For almost two decades, the farm's owner had a dispute with Auckland City over public access to the reserve, finally resolved in 2002 by the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

agreeing with the council's case providing public access. If one examines the lead up to the access dispute, one finds that the land owner alleged he was suffering losses through theft of his farm stock, some of which were barbecued on site, and others were trucked off the farm to be butchered elsewhere on the island. The thefts were of such a magnitude, said to be tens of thousands of dollar value per annum, that the viability of the stock fattening part of the landowner's business was being jeopardised. John Spencer, the landowner at the time, took one of the few options open to him and blocked access to his property.Stony Batter access
(from the Public Access New Zealand website, updated 26 June 2002. Accessed 2008-01-10.) The battery is now in the hands of a preservation society, which keeps it open for the public under a concession from DOC. The preservation society is currently trying to source an appropriate artillery piece to restore at least one gunpit to a similar state as it would have appeared in late World War II.

Characteristics

The 9.2 inch guns that were once installed in two of the gun pits had ranges of 31,300 yards (over 30 km) and a possible rate of fire of one round per minute. This made them the largest guns ever used in New Zealand.Various information plaques found around the Stony Batter installation, as of 2007 Their mountings could swivel them 360° and elevate up to 35°. They were served by ammunitions storage lockers in the base of each gun pit, which were in turn fed by large electric hoists from underground ammunition dumps. Next to the gun pits, which can be accessed at any time, the site also contains around a kilometre of tunnels, most of which are accessible by guided tour. These connected the gun pits with each other and with their ammunition stores, a plotting room, an engine room providing electricity, as well as with storerooms and barrack (located aboveground). Open to The Public. In June 2020 DoC issued a Concession Lease to operate guided tours to Fort Stony Batter Heritage Park Ltd. Tours commenced in December 2020 Wed thru Sunday until May 2021. After which the Tunnels will close temporarily to the public for winter restoration work- reopening again in December 2021. For more details www.stonybattertunnels.nz

References

External links

Stony Batter Tunnels
(official society website)

at Recreation Access New Zealand {{coord, -36.76237, 175.174964, display=title Waiheke Island New Zealand Army Buildings and structures in Auckland Forts in New Zealand Military history of New Zealand during World War II 1940s architecture in New Zealand