Sundås battery (Norwegian ''Sundås batteri'') is a defunct

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

site located at Sundåsen in

Stokke Stokke is a town in Sandefjord municipality in Vestfold County, Norway. It lies in-between Sandefjord and Tønsberg, two of Vestfold's largest cities. It was a municipality from 1838 to 2016. The administrative centre of the municipality was the ...

Sandefjord, Norway Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

. The fortifications were constructed in 1899 during turbulent times with Sweden during the

Union between Sweden and Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway ( sv, Svensk-norska unionen; no, Den svensk-norske union(en)), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Swede ...

. It was part of the newly established Norwegian Coastal Artillery ("Kystartilleriet"). The fort was erected to keep potential enemies from entering

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

by sea, and was also meant to protect the Marine harbor in

Melsomvik Melsomvik is a village in the municipality of Sandefjord, Norway, which lies by the Tønsberg Fjord. Its population is 2,076 as of 2016. It has been a boat harbor since Medieval times when the Leidang fleet was located in Melsomvik. When the confli ...

village. Work on the fort began in 1897, and the forts at both Håøya Island and Sundåsen were completed in 1899. Trenches, commando posts, fencing, concrete gun pits, and other remains from the fort can still be seen at Sundås. The fort lies by the Tønsberg Fjord with surrounding views of

Færder Lighthouse Færder Lighthouse ( no, Færder fyr) is a coastal lighthouse in the municipality of Færder in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. The lighthouse is located on the archipelago Tristein, three small islands in the outer Oslofjord. It was first lit in 18 ...

and islands such as Håøya,

Tjøme Tjøme () is an island in Færder, and a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Tjøme. The parish of ''Tjømø'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see f ...

Veierland Veierland is a populated, carfree island in Færder municipality, Norway. A ferry service operated by Jutøya AS connects the island with the nearby, larger island of Nøtterøy. The island also has a permanent ferry link to Engø peninsula in ...

, and

Nøtterøy Nøtterøy is an island and a former municipality in the present-day municipality of Færder in Vestfold and Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Borgheim. The parish of ''Nøtterø'' was esta ...

. The cannons were dismantled by German occupational forces in 1942 during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

and moved to other fortifications elsewhere in Norway. After the war, the battery reverted to the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...

who managed the property until 1962 when an agreement for maintenance and management was made with the municipality in return for public access. In 2005 the area was sold off to Stokke municipality. The fortifications were originally constructed to protect the marine harbor in Melsomvik from a potential Swedish invasion. Views from the fort include the

Tønsberg Fjord Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

, the Swedish coastline in the east, and the

Skrim Skrim is a mountain of Buskerud, in southern Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion ...

mountains in the west.Larsen, Erlend (2011). ''På Tur i Vestfold del 2''. E-forlag. Pages 347-349. . File:Sundås batteri - vei opp til standplasser.jpg File:Sundås batteri - Moniermagasin utvendig.jpg File:Sundås batteri - Moniermagasin innvendig.jpg File:Sundås batteri - Nordre kanonstilling fra fronten med kommandoplass i bakgrunnen.jpg File:Sundås batteri - midtre kanonstilling fra baksiden.jpg File:Sundås batteri - midtre kanonstilling.jpg File:Sundås batteri - Søndre kommandoplass med kanonstilling i bakgrunnen.jpg File:Sundås batteri - kanonstilling tannhjul.jpg File:Sundås batteri - Trapp opp til kanonstilling.jpg File:Sundås batteri - Søndre kanonstilling fra baksiden.jpg File:Sundås batteri - piggtrådsperring.jpg

References

Stokke Sandefjord Forts in Norway 1899 establishments in Norway Infrastructure completed in 1899 Military installations in Vestfold og Telemark {{Fortification-stub

See also

References