South Channel Fort

South Channel Fort, also known as South Channel Island, is a 0.7 ha artificial island in southern Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east of the town of Sorrento. It was part of a network of fortifications protecting the narrow entrance to Port Phillip.

It is 122 m long, 76 m wide, and is 6.4 m above sea-level, and was built on a shoal, close to the main shipping channel of the bay, with 14,000 tonnes of bluestone boulders, concrete and sand. It was constructed during the 1880s as part of a defensive strategy to protect and control access by sea to Port Phillip and the cities of Melbourne and Geelong. Its principal purpose was to illuminate the main shipping channel at night, and to explode mines under attacking ships which had breached the defences at Port Phillip Heads. The fort still contains remnants of its original military equipment, including disappearing guns.

Texte adapté de « South Channel Fort » de la Wikipédia en anglais, CC BY-SA 4.0.

South Channel Fort occupe la 204e place sur 6 412 au classement de renommée de cet atlas et le 1er rang des 10 que l’atlas recense en Australie. Fondé v. 1885, il est plus ancien que 5 % des monuments datés de l’atlas — l’un des 432 monuments de l’atlas fondés au XIXe siècle. Voyez comment l’Australie se compare dans les statistiques des châteaux.

Voir sur la carte interactive des châteaux →

Lire l’histoire complète sur Wikipédia ↗