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.

Tekst overgenomen uit “South Channel Fort” op de Engelstalige Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

South Channel Fort staat op plaats 204 van 6.412 in de bekendheidsranglijst van deze atlas en op plaats 1 van de 10 die de atlas in Australië in kaart brengt. Gebouwd in ca. 1885, en daarmee ouder dan 5% van de gedateerde bouwwerken in de atlas — een van de 432 bouwwerken in de atlas die uit de 19e eeuw stammen. Zie hoe dat zich verhoudt in de kastelenstatistiek.

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