Sydney Harbour defences
Encyclopedia
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
was protected by coastal batteries and other fixed defences from the early 19th century until the 1960s. These defences were constructed to protect the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n city of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
from attack by enemy warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s and submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s.
Pre-Federation defences
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's earliest fortifications were built around Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
to protect the new colony of Sydney from attacks from non-British ships or convict
Convictism in Australia
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government. One of the primary reasons for the British settlement of Australia was the establishment of a penal colony to alleviate pressure on their...
uprisings. The first gun emplacement was built in 1801 on Middle Head (north of Obelisk Bay) during the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. More permanent fortifications were built during the first half of the 19th century in response to feared foreign attacks and new threats to the British empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. In 1790 the Dawes Point Battery
Dawes Point Battery
The Dawes Point Battery is an historical fortification that was located adjacent to the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge at Dawes Point, New South Wales, Australia.-History:...
was meant to be the first line of defence against an attack by the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, Napoleon’s French troops in 1810, and the Russian Pacific Fleet in the 1850s (during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
). This was part of a line of defences that were concentrated on protecting the inner Harbour, these also appear to have been given a low priority. Construction of Fort Denison began in 1841, though the fort wasn't completed until 1857.
Sydney's defences were expanded following the withdrawal (Cardwell reforms
Cardwell Reforms
The Cardwell Reforms refer to a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874.-Background:...
) of British soldiers from Australia during the 1870s. This prompted the construction of four sets of fortifications on Georges Heights
Georges Heights, New South Wales
Georges Heights is an urban locality in the suburb of Mosman, in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Georges Heights is located in the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman and is part of the Lower North Shore.-History:...
and around other parts of the harbour, the Middle Head Fortifications
Middle Head Fortifications
The Middle Head Fortification is located at the end of Old Fort Road, Middle Head, Mosman, New South Wales. The fortifications at Middle Head formed part of Sydney Harbour's defences.-History:The fortifications were built between 1870 and 1911....
, the Georges Head Battery
Georges Head Battery
The Georges Head Battery is located on Georges Head, in the suburb of Mosman in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Georges Head battery is one of three forts in the area that were built for the purpose of defending the outer harbour...
, the Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position and a smaller fort located on Bradleys Head
Bradleys Head Fortification Complex
The Bradleys Head Fortification Complex is a small fort located on the northern side of Taronga Park Zoo that formed part of a total defence system for Sydney Harbour and recalls a period when the colony of New South Wales became increasingly aware of its isolation and wealth...
were constructed during this period and upgraded in the 1880s on the advise of British experts. They were designed to attack enemy ships as they attempted entry into Sydney Harbour. Some of these forts were, at the time, built of an out dated design.
Clifton Gardens, New South Wales
Clifton Gardens is an urban locality in the suburb of Mosman in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Clifton Gardens is located in the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman and is part of the Lower North Shore....
). From Georges Head, miners watched for ships entering the harbour. Their job was to explode the mine closest to an approaching enemy ship. Each underwater mine was attached to an electric cable that ran up the cliff to the firing post.
The work of the submarine miner was secretive, technical and dangerous. During a demonstration in 1891, a crowd of several thousand watched as a terrible accident killed four miners and injured another eight.
The Submarine Mining Corps was dismantled in 1922.
Sydney's defences were expanded over the last decades of the 19th century and eventually incorporated a fort on Bare Island to defend the approaches to Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
.
World War II
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World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and were considerably augmented once Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
entered the war. While Sydney's anti-submarine defences were not yet complete at the time of the attack on Sydney Harbour
Attack on Sydney Harbour
In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia...
on the night of 31 May 1942, they were successful in sinking two of the three Japanese midget submarine
Midget submarine
A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to 6 or 8, with little or no on-board living accommodation...
s which attempted to enter the Harbour.
The end of coastal defence
Following the end of the Japanese threat to Australia Sydney's defences were reduced from 1944. The last fortifications were not decommissioned until the 1960s, however. While Sydney is no longer protected by fixed defences, a high proportion of the Australian Defence ForceAustralian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...
is based within the greater Sydney region and could be called on to protect the city during an emergency. During the 2000 Sydney Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
security for the Harbour was provided by Special Forces
Special forces of Australia
Since 1941, the Australian military has raised a range of special forces and special operations units, which fall into four categories:# Commando units such as the Independent and Commando Companies raised during World War II, and the 1st Commando Regiment, the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian...
, Navy Clearance Divers
Clearance Diving Team (RAN)
The Clearance Diving Teams of the Royal Australian Navy also act as commando frogmen: they consist of naval personnel who are qualified in diving, demolitions, underwater repairs, and reconnaissance...
and warships.
Current major ADF facilities in Sydney include:
- Air Force
- RAAF Base RichmondRAAF Base RichmondRAAF Base Richmond is one of Australia's oldest and largest air force bases. It is located within the City of Hawkesbury in the north-western fringe of Sydney, New South Wales, between the towns of Windsor and Richmond. The base is home to the Royal Australian Air Force's transport headquarters,...
- RAAF Base Richmond
- Army
- Holsworthy BarracksHolsworthy BarracksHolsworthy Barracks is located in the outer south-western Sydney suburb of Holsworthy. It is part of the Holsworthy military reserve, which has been a training area and artillery range for the Australian Army since World War I. Following World War II it became a major base for the permanent...
- Holsworthy Barracks
- Navy
- HMAS Kuttabul
- HMAS PenguinHMAS Penguin (naval base)HMAS Penguin is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy located at Balmoral on the shore of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman, New South Wales...