Fort Denison

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Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour with the city skyline

Fort Denison is a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.

1 History
2 Current Use
3 Famous Prank
4 Popular Culture
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Prior to European settlement, the island had the Aboriginal name Mat-te-wan-ye (sometimes Mallee’wonya). After the first fleet arrived in 1788, Governor Phillip and his Advocate General used the name Rock Island and not long after, the island became known as Pinchgut.

Fort Denison pre-1885. National Archives of Australia

Once a 15 meter (49 ft) high sandstone rock, the island was flattened to provide standstone for nearby Circular Quay. Fortification of the island began in 1841, resumed in 1855 and was complete in 1857 as a defence against a feared Russian invasion during the Crimean War. At this point the island gained its current name after Sir William Thomas Denison, Governor of New South Wales from 1855 to 1861.

The fortress features a distinctive Martello tower, the only one ever built in Australia and possibly the last one ever constructed by the British Empire. Construction used 8,000 tonnes of sandstone from nearby Kurraba Point, Neutral Bay. Walls in the tower are between 3.3 meters and 6.7 meters thick at the base and 2.7 meters thick at the top.

The gunroom on the tower still contains three 8-inch muzzle loading cannons which were positioned before construction was complete. The width of passages within the tower are too narrow to permit these to be removed.

In May 1942 a Japanese submarine attack on Sydney Harbour took place. One of the vessels was fired upon by the American cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) and some 5-inch shells hit Fort Denison causing minor tower damage which can still be seen today.

Since 1992, the site has been managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which has spent around A$2m conserving and upgrading the facilities. Significant contribution for the work was made by Origin Energy.

Following publication of a Conservation Plan, further renovation commenced in 1999 and was completed in 2001. The conservation and adaptive re-use of the Island was awarded the NSW Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Conservation Award; a ‘Commendation’ in the National RAIA Awards; and a National Trust Heritage Award in 2001.

[edit] Current Use

Fort Denison is now a museum, tourist attraction and Sydney's only island cafe. The tourist facility contains a chronological exhibition of the island history from Aboriginal times.

It also operates a Harbour Navigational Facility, with tide gauge, navigation channel markers, foghorn and beacon. The Bureau of Meteorology operates a weather facility from the island and publishes observations at half hourly intervals on their website [1].

At 1pm every day, a cannon is fired from Fort Denison to indicate the time to Sydneysiders. This practice started in 1906 and continued until World War II when it was stopped for fear of alarming residents, not recommencing again until 1986.

[edit] Famous Prank

In 1900, with the Boer war raging in Africa, White Star Line ship Medic sailed to Sydney Harbour and dropped anchor in Neutral Bay. One evening the fourth officer, Charles Lightoller and four midshipmen rowed to Fort Denison and climbed the tower with a plan to fool locals into believing a Boer raiding party was attacking Sydney. They hoisted a makeshift Boer flag on the lightning conductor and fired one of the cannons located at the fort.

The conservative citizens of Sydney frowned upon this activity and after an investigation Lightoller accepted sole responsibility for the incident and was reprimanded. White Star Lines apologised and paid damages to the city.

Charles Lightoller went on to be the second officer onboard RMS Titanic and the most senior officer to survive the 1912 sinking of the ship. He was a key witness at both the British and American inquiries into the disaster.

[edit] Popular Culture

Fort Denison featured in the 1959 film The Siege Of Pinchgut, known in the United States as Four Desparate Men. Directed by Harry Watt, written by Jon Cleary and starring Aldo Ray, the film was the final film production of the British-based Ealing Studios.

[edit] References

City Of Sydney Website; About Sydney - Fort Denison, [2], Accessed Jun 2006.
NSW Government; Our Built Heritage Case Study: Fort Denison, [3], Accessed Jun 2006.
Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, Fort Denison, [4], Accessed Jun 2006.
Department of the Environment and Heritage; Fort Denison, Sydney, NSW, Australian Heritage Database (Place ID 1856), 1978.
The Internet Movie Database; The Siege Of Pinchgut, [5], Accessed Jun 2006.
Lightoller, C.H.; Titanic and Other Ships, 1935. (Available through Gutenberg Australia)
O'Brien, J; Fort Denison, 8th February 2006, 702 ABC Sydney Radio Story, (Transcript)