Maunsell Sea Forts -10 Interesting Things to know about
Britain is home to several historic forts that can be visited and explored. These range from the city-like bunkers that served as Britain’s Plan B during the Cold War to Wales, which has the largest number of castles of any country in all of Europe.
Another well-known location is Fort Maunsell in England, which is located at the meeting point of the Thames and Mersey rivers, The Maunsell Sea Forts.
The Maunsell Sea Forts, constructed by the Royal Engineers, is located close to the Thames’s mouth and serves as a reminder of H.G. Wells and the most horrific moments of World War Two.
In the UK, there are innumerable things to see and do. It is impossible to witness all of its lengthy and stormy histories, along with its four naval forts, in a single visit.
1. Introduction to the Maunsell Sea Forts
Due to an earlier plan to construct 49 naval and infantry forts at the entrance of the Thames, Britain was able to respond to massive German air raids during World War Two. It is known as Fort Mersey. All three of his armies in Nazi Germany were united to become the formidable Air Warfare Division of the Luftwaffe during World War II.
In the summers of 2007 and 2008, Red Sands Radio, a station that paid homage to the pirate radio stations of the 1960s, broadcast from Red Sands Fort. He had his license for limited duty for 28 days. Whitstable was chosen as the new location for Red Sands Radio’s land operations after the fort was declared insecure.
2. History of the Redsands Fort
The name of the fort is a tribute to Guy Maunsel, one of its creators. The improvements in concrete and bridge design made by British civil engineer Maunsell made him particularly well-known. He also created forts on dry terrain and transferred them to areas near water. To fortify the Thames Estuary, an anti-aircraft turret was constructed in 1942.
Each castle near the mouth of the Thames was 18 meters high and seven stories tall, with four of those stories serving as garrison barracks. Each stronghold was made of two concrete towers and a reinforced concrete pontoon foundation. Canteens, functional generators, and ammo storage facilities were given by the remaining structures.
Further forts were constructed and more structures could be added thanks to the interconnected steel platform decks that connected the towers over the water. the conclusion. The building resembles a military bunker since the ends of the stanchions are firmly grounded.
When the Germans successfully used shock mines with minesweeping capabilities on the principal route from Harwich to the mouth of the Thames, this demand emerged early in the conflict. Governments have spent a lot of money trying to make things better. They installed a massive circular copper modification that could communicate a mine deactivation signal to the Wellington bomber after capturing a tour boat with a Bofors weapon.
Many of Maunsell’s ideas were rejected by the Admiralty, but Maunsell spoke with Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser personally and gave instructions to his staff.
His 500 labourers from Dartford, Gravesend, and Sevenoaks constructed a naval fort at Gravesend. It was designed to carry two cylindrical towers with cannons on top as a pontoon craft. Each centrally heated and cooled tower could accommodate sixty soldiers, with fifteen of them sleeping in one of his apartments. She is equipped with two of her 3.75-inch cannons and two of her 40 mm Bofors cannons.
Each of her turrets measures 24 feet in diameter and 60 feet in height, with walls that are 1 inch thick. The finished fort was towed and buried with men on board.
3. Design of the Maunsell Sea Forts
Despite not being generally known, Maunsell’s abilities significantly aided the war effort. It caused significant damage and casualties with his 22 aircraft and 30 flying bombs, but the fort’s building was expensive, and his crew seemed to have lost motivation. Of course, his contribution to England’s defence cannot be disregarded. When we talk about his last two Maunsell Sea Forts, his name immediately comes to mind.
3.1 Construction of the Maunsell Sea Forts
Fort appeared to be an oil rig. Two enormous reinforced concrete base cylinders weighing a combined 9 million pounds protruded 60 feet from each base. On these pillars stood a building of 15,000 square meters. It stands three basketball courts high.
Rows of stilt homes and pirate radio stations encircle a massive concrete tower, of which only the top appears to be sustained. These towers, hollow on the interior, had naval commander bunkers for the troops. At this point in the conflict, nobody—not even British officials—knew how long the combat would endure. Each cylinder was consequently divided into seven stories, each of which had a dining space, a storage area, an extra generator, and fresh water. For a very long time, food, electricity, and water were abundant.
3.2 Purpose of the Maunsell Sea Forts – Pirate Radio Stations
Several forts were reoccupied for pirate radio in the middle of the 1960s. In 1964, a few months after Radio Caroline debuted on the air, Screaming Lord Thatch established Radio Thatch in one of the Shivering Sands towers. Thatch immediately lost interest in the project and gave the station’s management to Reginald Calvert. Calvert changed the station’s name to “Radio City” and expanded operations to all five towers.
Calvert’s passing during a disagreement over station ownership helped the government pass the Anti-Piracy Act of 1967. (which turned out to be a matter of self-defence, not assassination). A nearby Radio City station reportedly disconnected a surveillance radio link during the height of piracy, according to the Port of London Authority.
4. Life on the Thames Forts
Moreover, Munsell developed an anti-aircraft system. These substantial pieces are made up of seven articulated steel platforms. A QF 3.7-inch weapon is installed in each of his four turrets in front of the control room and accommodations. There is a Bofors 40mm weapon in the turret behind the control panel. He was on one of the tower’s sides, which was outside the tower. lighthouse.
4.1 Getting to Maunsell Forts
Artists and conservation organizations are currently interested in the Munsell Sea and Army Fort, however, full access is discouraged due to their current state of varied degrees of degradation.
The nearest fort is in Whitstable. Some of the forts are visible from the shore on a clear, sunny day. Boats can get you closer, but I strongly advise against using them.
5. Decommissioning of the Maunsell Forts
After housing hundreds of navy officers over the following ten years, the fort was officially closed and abandoned in 1956 after the British government felt that these facilities were a waste of money.
He is currently among the first to be waived following a dispute. In truth, though, a portion of the Maunsel Fortress was built and used illegally because it was on the high seas. In actuality, it ought to have fulfilled its purpose and been eliminated. In the 1950s, the British demolished the majority of them. Fort Knock Jon and Roughs Tower, located 12 miles inland from Essex, were two that did survive.
5.1 Restoration of the Navy Forts
Ever since they stopped operating in the 1950s, they have virtually been allowed to crumble. A fresh approach has been developed to try to find solutions to stop long-term loss.
Construction behemoth Structural Repairs has started looking into whether the fortress can be brought back to its former splendour and made accessible to the general public. One of his top experts, Structural Repairs, is passionate about restoring historic buildings, including the seven stilt residences he had constructed in Red Lion Wharf.
6. Sea Forts in Maunsell Sea Forts
The Maunsell Naval Fortress, constructed close to the Thames’s mouth, was used by the Royal Navy to repel Nazi air raids along the Thames and thwart attempts to mine planes. All seven of his Maunsell forts contained these. The following describes the remaining forts:
6.1 Naval Forts
The superstructure of the naval fortification was made up of two pontoon bases that were each 51 meters long and were joined by two hollow cylindrical towers. Land-based fortifications sank until only their towers were visible above the water, after which they drifted through the theatre of action. The hollow tower contained multiple stories, 120 crew members’ quarters, anti-aircraft magazines, storage areas, and larger installations, including Norwegian ships. A QF 3.75-inch anti-aircraft gun and two of his other 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns were placed on the main steel gun deck that guarded them. On the east coast, it served as the main control tower.
6.2 The Army Forts
By 1943, Anti-Aircraft Turret Fortifications were also being produced, and Maunsell had created a novel idea for a fortification system consisting of many interconnected steel platforms with protective arrangements around a conning tower.
In front of the command post and living quarters, his four turrets with QF 3.75-inch anti-aircraft guns formed a semicircle. He featured a 40 mm Bofors gun in the rear turret, and a searchlight and anti-aircraft cannons were located in an adjacent turret that could be used to spot invading aircraft. His three army forts at Fort Maunsell, sometimes known as turrets, operated as pirate bases in the 1960s and 1970s.
6.3 The Nore Army Fort
Nore Army Fort or Shivering Sands Fort is the only fort made out of a collection of towers, and it is located near the mouth of the Thames, halfway between Great Wakering and Sheerness. In 1942, at the height of World War II, Guy Maunsell developed Stillfort, an anti-aircraft battery for naval platforms. During World War Two, Nollet modified the layout of military defences.
Some catwalks connect the Red Sands and Shivering Sands Keeps that reach further out into the water on platforms made of cubic metal and reinforced concrete. For a total of 36 days, artist Stephen Turner lived in Shivering Sands. As part of the estuary defences, armoured towers, and military bunkers have been constructed.
6.4 The Red Sands Fort
There are seven towers in the Red Sands Group of the Thames Estuary. The towers were joined by metal grid walkways. He resurfaced Red Sand Fort in 1959 and contemplated deploying the towers, but as a central control force, the expenditures were prohibitive.
7. Legacy of the Maunsell Forts
Nore Fort Off Cliffs in North Kent’s reinforced concrete legs and cruciform base is still intact today, displaying the skill of civil engineers. It was close to where it had previously been in the water. Fort is the foundation upon which Nore was erected, and it is conceivable that he is the sole foundation that is still in existence.
Major portions are still covered in ruins. Concrete tubes that were hollow and shaped like rectangles and cylinders shattered in the muck close to the seawall, revealing the reinforced grid inside. During high tide and directly behind Hans Egederek, it is also highly visible. You can get a sense of Fort Nore’s grandeur when you stand on these fragments due to their sheer scale.
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