Portsmouth Harbour Princess Royal Fortress at King George Sound, Australia was recommended by Sir William Jevois in 1878 as part of his survey of the Australian defences. The British had largely withdrawn their regular troops from Australia in 1870, relying on the Australian states to fund and garrison the various defences. The actual plans forRead more
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SINGAPORE The natural harbour of Keppel in Singapore was not established as an anchorage by the British until the middle of the 19th Century with the harbour completed in 1886. There were three docks built which have now all be lost under development: Number 1 Dock completed in 1859 Number 2 (Victoria) Dock completed inRead more
Bermuda Harbour Bermuda Harbour 1848 Fort St Catherine Bermuda Fortress was settled by the English at roughly the same time that colony was set up in Jamestown by the Virginia Company operating under a Royal Charter. In 1615 the islands were named Somers Isles and came under the control of the Somers Isles Company andRead more
Until the Crimean War of 1854-56 Esquimalt Harbour was regularly visited by British warships, but there was no land establishment. During the Crimean War some hospital facilities were built after failed attacks on Petropavlovsk and the Kamchatka Peninsular. This was followed in 1858 with the Fraser River Gold Rush which saw a huge in prospectors,Read more
Trincomalee Harbour Originally in Dutch hands, the outstanding natural harbour was taken over by the British in 1796 and developed in a major naval base and coaling station. The principal batteries defending the Harbour of Trincomalee were: LOCATIONFORT FREDRICKCitadel BatteryWest BatteryFlagstaff BatteryEastern BatteryPortuguese BatteryCavalier BatteryMunro Battery (Ostenburgh Face)1887One 7-inch RMLOne 9-inch RMLOne 9-inch RMLOne 9-inchRead more
PORT ROYAL, COALING STATION Map of Port Royal 1800 Port Royal is on a spit of land, the Palisadoes, which covers the entrance to Kingston Harbour in Jamaica. The Island was taken by the British in 1655 from the Spanish who had been there since about 1509. The British encouraged continuing attacks on the SpanishRead more
St Helena Saint Helena was formerly claimed by the Dutch Republic in 1633, although it had been visited earlier by other Europeans including the British, Portuguese and Spanish. In 1657 the British East India Company was granted a charter to govern the Island and it became an important port of call for ships on theRead more
It would appear that Portuguese explorers were around Freetown, Sierra Leone in about 1462. Trade posts were established and the French and Dutch followed. In about 1562 Bunce Island, in the Sierra Leone river near Freetown, because a trading post primarily dealing in slaves. In 1787 the British Crown established a settlement in Sierra Leone,Read more
Falkland Islands Port William, Stanley in the Falkland Islands was established as a Coaling Port for ships travelling to the west coast of the Americas by sailing round the south tip of South America. Various plans were submitted for coastal defence batteries but little ever came of these. In 1881 the initial plans had calledRead more