Fort Denison

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Fort Denison
Photo Information
Copyright: Peter Parata (eosnut) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 527 W: 93 N: 874] (6264)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-05-06
Categories: Architecture
Camera: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, Marumi DHG Circular PL(D) 77mm
Exposure: f/6.7, 1/1500 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Friday Theme 2008/05/09 "Brick/Stone Wall" [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-05-09 1:17
Viewed: 295
Points: 38
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Fort Denison, Sydney harbour.

Taken from the Captain Cook cruise we took on the harbour on Tuesday.
Just another stunning day, it was like this the whole week...tough to handle, but we did it;)



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. In 1788 a convict named Thomas Hill was sentenced to a week on bread and water in irons and the island came to be known as Pinchgut. Once a 15 meter (49 ft) high sandstone rock, the island was flattened as prisoners under the command of Captain George Barney, the civil engineer for the colony, quarried it for sandstone to construct nearby Circular Quay.

By 1796 the government had installed a gibbet on Pinchgut. The first convict to be hanged from the gibbet may have been Francis Morgan. In 1793 the British transported him to New South Wales for life as punishment for a murder. The authorities in NSW executed Morgan for bashing a man to death in Sydney on 18 October 1796.

In 1839, two American warships entered the harbour at night and circled Pinchgut Island. Concern with the threat of foreign attack caused the government to review the harbour's inner defences. Barney, who had earlier reported that Sydney’s defences were inadequate, recommended that the government establish a fort on Pinchgut Island to help protect Sydney Harbour from attack by foreign vessels. Fortification of the island began in 1841 but was not completed. Construction resumed in 1855 because of fear of a Russian naval attack during the Crimean War, and was completed on 14 November 1857. The newly-built fort then took its current name from Sir William Thomas Denison, the Governor of New South Wales from 1855 to 1861.

The fortress features a distinctive Martello tower, the only one ever built in Australia and the last one ever constructed in the British Empire. Construction used 8,000 tonnes of sandstone from nearby Kurraba Point, Neutral Bay. The tower's walls are between 3.3 meters and 6.7 meters thick at the base and 2.7 meters thick at the top. However, developments in artillery rendered the fort largely obsolete by the time it was completed. The tower itself had quarters for a garrison of 24 soldiers and one officer. Fort Denison's armament included three 8-inch muzzle loaders in the tower, two 10-inch (25-cm) guns, one on a 360-degree traverse on the top of the tower and one in a bastion at the other end of the island, and twelve 32-pounder (15-kg) cannons in a battery between the base of the tower and the flanking bastion.

Eventually all the guns were removed, except for the three 8-inch muzzle loading cannons in the gun room in the tower, which were installed before construction was complete. The width of passages within the tower are too narrow to permit these to be removed. However, from the beginning the three cannons were of limited utility, for two reasons:

The embrasures for the cannons were too small to use the guns effectively. By the time the cannon was loaded the ship would have sailed past.
The recoil was too powerful for the small room.
In 1906, a saluting gun was transferred from Dawes Point to Fort Denison (see below).

In 1913 a lighthouse beacon built in Birmingham, England, and shipped to Sydney, replaced the 10-inch (25-cm) gun on the roof of the tower. In 2004 the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, which manages the site, restored the lighthouse beacon, which is still in use. The fort also has a still-functioning foghorn and a tide gauge room, which was established in the mid-1800s.

In May 1942, three Japanese two-man midget-submarines attacked Sydney Harbour. When the cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) fired on the Japanese, some of its 5-inch shells hit Fort Denison, causing the tower minor damage that one can still see today.
juyona, kiwi_explorer, rewshearer, boomcat, Janice, John_F_Kennedy, Royaldevon, vandana2923, ayse51, PierreFrigon, lilimih33, puffy, Refugee, nishantdavid, MickoAna has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi...
Beautiful shot...
Nice colors...details...
Yesterday my photo "My photo Mr.Josyane Foureur" (foureur) 16369 from my web site www.pbase.com/andrijakasom take my photo and stay in here...:-((((
Best regards...
Nice weekend...
Andro

  • Great 
  • juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2370 W: 0 N: 614] (12109)
  • [2008-05-09 1:27]

Hola Peter,
bello pov. e interesante arquitectura,
bonita postal...
saludos

Hi Peter,
Great shot,
Very simple but beautiful,
Great colours,
I like the old building..
Nicely framed,
TFS..

Vaibhav...

Hi Peter,
Very good historical description and interesting too. Well composed with the building placed in an angle. Image and color quality is also of high quality. Well done! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

Interesting note and a crisp, clear, and very pleasing capture here. Rich, strong, natural colours (gotta love Canon, eh?) and good details.

Hope you enjoyed your time in Sydney?

Rew

HI Peter,
lovely picture great colours and specially awesome landmark.
LuDivine

hello Pete,

beautiful contribution of bricks.. its look like you took this shot when it is low tide.. your note is so interesting.. tfs..

regards, terry

  • Great 
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3069 W: 209 N: 6383] (25289)
  • [2008-05-09 3:51]

This is a good pic of Fort Denison, Pete. And the stork on the chimney was certainly well positioned!! It looks a super day there. Did oyu enjoy your holiday in Oz?

Can you imagine the living and working conditions of the prisoners living in those days. So cruel and barbaric - we found that out in Norfolk when we were there. Those in Mt Eden don't know how lucky they are now!!!

Your notes are interesting - thank you
Cheers
Janice

Wonderful image, beautiful light, wonderful depth, incredible place.
Best wishes,
Achim

Wow, Peter, what interesting notes!
When I saw this on the thumbnail, I was surprised that it was Australian! It is characteristically unAustralian!
The sharpnessa nd details of the stones is excellent and they show up very well against the clear blue sky!

Kind regards,
Bev :-)

  • Great 
  • ayse51 Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 938 W: 39 N: 596] (10007)
  • [2008-05-09 7:50]

Hi Peter,
what a nice place.Many thanks for yoıur beautiful note.WEll done.TFS.Necla.

very good entry for the theme.
Good sharpness an details.
Love the addition of the pelican.
TFS
Pierre

hi there,

wow, what a stunning building, very imposing..

you have captured the different textures and colours really well....sea also looks good...

birds are an added bonus...be interesting to see a night-time photo with lighthouse and spotlights...

nice1...cheers...harry.

  • Great 
  • puffy Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2029 W: 135 N: 2987] (16248)
  • [2008-05-10 0:05]

Hi Peter,

Excellent captured here, love the pov and colours, great textures and details too...


Have a great weekend,

Cheers,
Sweety

Hello Peter,
Beautiful pov and composition.
Excellent details. TFS
Vandana
later

I actually did the tour of the island years ago Pete. Lovely colours and the sandstone seems to glow in that light. Well composed and good detail. Back in around 2000, I worked at the shipyard in WA where MV Captain Cook's Explorer was built, we couldn't wait to see the back/stern of it :)TFS,
Dave

Hello Peter!
Wonderful colours, great detail and clarity in your picture!
Good light!
Excellent done!
Best regards!
Lili

...I return... :)

hELLO pETER
A superb capture.
The light, perspective, point of viw, sharpness everything seems to be perfect.
Great Shot

Good shot, and of course place :)

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