Sea Forts of England

April 22nd, 2008 · No Comments

Maunsell’s army sea forts were more specifically designed to repel smaller aircraft flying in to attack rather than to lay mines at site. Each fort consists of a cluster of smaller units arrayed in a group. Each group had one spotlight tower and the rest of the units had guns mounted all around to give maximum range. Each fort was connected by bridges to the others in the cluster but was also structurally autonomous - presumably in case one were to be successfully targeted and destroyed. Since being decommissioned, a number of these forts have been used for pirate radio broadcasting stations.

Historic Navy Sea Forts

Converted Sea Fortress

Horse Sands, Spitbank, St. Helens and No Man’s Land Forts were created in the mid-1800s as defensive sea forts around Portsmouth. Some are now abandoned or under private ownership but No Man’s Land Fort has actually been converted into a luxury resort and Spitbank has been transformed into a museum, hotel and events space. St. Helen’s fort can actually be reached on foot during low tides at certain times of year. At one point, a failed businessman barricaded himself in No Man’s Land Fort to escape his creditors.

Military Guard Tower and Lighthouse

The Nab Tower, now a lighthouse, was created in 1918 near Southampton in order to protect merchant vessels from attacks by German submarines. At 40 feet wide, 90 feet tall and a cost of over a million dollars a piece eight such towers were to be created and linked with steel nets to keep out U-boats. In the end, only this tower was constructed and installed - one other was scrapped after being partly built. The tower was built on a concrete based towed out to sea then filled with water so it would sink to the bottom. However, in the sinking process the structure tilted slightly and remains at a 3 degree angle. In 1999, the commercial (Dole) ship shown above allided with the tower.

via Dark Roasted Blend and also found WebUrbanist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XZvn-KdaOA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnv6bMZaoSM

___________________________

This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.