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The Signal Hill Battery was constructed in 1892–3 at
The 9.2-inch (234 mm) breech loading gun was fired for the last time in 1933. It was removed and replaced in 1937 by two 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XI guns placed in each of two outer gun emplacements; these guns were removed after WWII. The fortification also has an underground complex that runs beneath Old South Head Road. It contains a maze of rooms and corridors including a mess room, elevator shaft and Woollahra Municipal Council , Local history fast facts - S
/ref>
The Signal Hill Battery was constructed in 1892–3 at Watsons Bay
Watsons Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.
...
and is adjacent to the Signal Hill Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
on Old South Head Road
Old South Head Road is a road in Sydney which goes from the suburb of Bondi Junction to Watsons Bay. It also passes through Bondi, Bondi Beach, North Bondi, Rose Bay and Vaucluse. It is historically significant because its earliest origins ...
.
History and description
The Battery was one of a set of three coastal defence fortifications inSydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the other two being the Ben Buckler Gun Battery
The Ben Buckler Gun Battery is a heritage-listed fortified former gun emplacement and military installation of the late-Victorian period and now public open space located in the locality of Ben Buckler, in the Waverley Municipality of Sydney ...
at Bondi, and the Shark Point Battery
The Steele Point Battery is a small fort, on the shores of Sydney Harbour in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse, New South Wales, Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia.
History
Talk of the need for harbour defences was noted as far back as 1 ...
, Clovelly
Clovelly () is a privately-owned harbour village in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The settlement and surrounding land belongs to John Rous who inherited it from his mother in 1983. He belongs to the Hamlyn family who have managed th ...
. Each battery consisted of a gun pit that incorporated a BL 9.2-inch (234 mm) Mk VI breech-loading 'counter bombardment' British Armstrong Armstrong may refer to:
Places
* Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places
Antarctica
* Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands
Argentina
* Armstrong, Santa Fe
Australia
* Armstrong, Victoria
Canada
* Armstrong, British Columbia
* Armstrong ...
'disappearing' gun. The various Australian colonial governments bought nine such guns and an extra barrel before Federation. The Signal Hill gun bore Serial Number 7318 and its barrel survives and is on public display at North Fort
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
, North Head, at the Northern end of Australia's Memorial Walk.
These fortifications were the last link in Sydney's outer defence perimeter, which was intended to defend Sydney from bombardment by an enemy vessel standing off the coast. The fortifications built in the 1890s around Sydney's eastern suburbs were the culmination of some twenty years of construction of harbour defence installations that reflected the changing policy of the time to meet new technologies, threats and styles of warfare.
The 9.2-inch (234 mm) breech loading gun was fired for the last time in 1933. It was removed and replaced in 1937 by two 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XI guns placed in each of two outer gun emplacements; these guns were removed after WWII. The fortification also has an underground complex that runs beneath Old South Head Road. It contains a maze of rooms and corridors including a mess room, elevator shaft and gunpowder magazine
A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications requ ...
s. The entrance from the street has been tack welded and sealed.
A memorial was placed there in November 1992 by the Royal Australian Signal Corps Association on behalf of its members. Two plaques were also placed on 30 March 1993, putting the reserve in proper historical perspective./ref>
See also
*Military history of Australia
The military history of Australia spans the nation's 230-year modern history, from the early Australian frontier wars between Aboriginals and Europeans to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 21st century. Although this h ...
References
{{Barracks Batteries Bunkers and Forts in Sydney Batteries in Australia Buildings and structures in Sydney Bunkers in Oceania Forts in New South Wales History of Sydney Vaucluse, New South Wales