2019

TR0779 : Red Sands Maunsell Fort - Control and four Gunnery Towers

taken 5 years ago, 10 km NNE of Warden, Kent, England

Red Sands Maunsell Fort - Control and four Gunnery Towers
Red Sands Maunsell Fort - Control and four Gunnery Towers
The central Control tower is seen linked to the southernmost Gunnery tower with three other towers visible to its left (one of them partly obscured by the one nearest to us).
Red Sands Maunsell Fort

The Maunsell Fort at Red Sands in the Thames Estuary / North Sea to the north of Whitstable is the most complete remaining Army Type Maunsell Fort remaining from WWII.

The fort comprises seven towers - an almost central Control Tower surrounded by five Gunnery Towers and a seventh tower slightly offset which was the Searchlight Tower.

From online charts I have ascertained the following locations for the towers - this always assumes that the chart marks them in the precisely correct position.

Control Tower: 51.47650N 0.99052E TR 0777 7952
Gunnery Tower A: 51.47616N 0.98956E TR 0770 7948
Gunnery Tower B: 51.47612N 0.99099E TR 0780 7948
Gunnery Tower C: 51.47652N 0.99155E TR 0784 7953
Gunnery Tower D: 51.47686N 0.99097E TR 0779 7956
Gunnery Tower E: 51.47704N 0.98996E TR 0772 7958
Serchlight Tower: 51.47778N 0.99047E TR 0776 7966

To the north of the towers is the North Red Sands Buoy -
this is located at 51.47885N 0.98862E TR 07626 79779

(Note: I have arbitrarily assigned the letters A-E to the Gunnery Towers - I think in fact that they are numbered, but I do not know the correct order)

The fort accommodated up to 265 men. Between them the Thames forts shot down 22 planes and 30 flying bombs.

Project Redsand LinkExternal link has been set up to actively protect this historic remnant of the Second World War - why it is not EH Grade I listed (or indeed listed at all), I do not know nor understand, unless their location puts them beyond the geographical ambit of English Heritage.

See the shared description for Maunsell Forts for more information on these coastal defence forts.
Also see LinkExternal link for some more information

Maunsell Forts

The Maunsell Forts are a group of defensive structures built during the Second World War to defend London and Liverpool against German attacks. They are split into two broad types: Army Forts and Navy Forts. The Navy Forts look of a more substantial construction than the Army ones being two large circular towers with a platform straddling both upon which a superstructure was raised. The Army Forts on the other hand appear rather like large metal containers with windows set upon four slanting concrete columns.Each Army "Fort" consisted of several separate towers, typically a control tower surrounded by five gunnery towers and a slightly off-set searchlight tower. The full complement of seven towers can still be seen at the Red Sands Fort in the Thames Estuary / North Sea north of Whitstable.

They are named after their designer Guy Anson Maunsell (1 September 1884 – 20 June 1961) and although many no longer exist, several remarkable remnants in the Thames Estuary / North Sea can still be visited by boat.

The fate of the forts is as follows:

ARMY FORTS

The Liverpool (Mersey) Forts: 3 forts each of 7 towers constructed from October 1941 - None remain - removed as a hazard to shipping in the early 1950s, with the last demolished in 1955.
See LinkExternal link

Nore Fort: After being hit by the Norwegian ship Baalbek in 1953 which destroyed two of the towers and resulted in four fatalities, it was considered an urgent hazard to shipping and was demolished in 1959-60
There are remnants of it at Alpha wharf near the village of Cliffe, Kent, see LinkExternal link

Red Sands Fort: All seven towers remain - see separate detailed shared description - Red Sands Maunsell Fort

Shivering Sands Fort: Six of the seven towers remain, one having collapsed in 1963 when the ship Ribersborg accidentally collided with it in foggy conditions.
See LinkExternal link

NAVY FORTS

Rough Sands Fort: Perhaps the most remarkable of all the forts, after a period hosting "pirate" radio stations in the 1960s, it was occupied by the Bates family, who declared it to be an independent country "Sealand". Being in international waters they have de facto (if not de jure) independence and have their own flag, currency stamps etc. See their own website LinkExternal link for more details.

Sunk Head Fort: (effective 1942-1945) To prevent its use as a pirate radio station it was partly dismantled using acetylene cutting torches and then 1½ tons of high explosives blew it to pieces on 21 August 1967. 20' (6m) of the leg stumps remain however. See LinkExternal link

Tongue Sands Fort: (effective 1942-1945) Unlike the other forts which were either destroyed or remain standing, this fort gradually succumbed to the actions of the sea; first shaking, then listing and finally being broken down from beneath by the action of the waves. A single 18' (5m) stump of the south leg remains visible above sea level. See LinkExternal link

Knock John Fort: This fort is still standing [2019] although apparently some distortion of the legs has been observed. See LinkExternal link for more information


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rob Farrow and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Historic sites and artefacts Defence, Military Place: Red Sands Primary Subject: Fort other tags: Maunsell Fort World War II World War II Relic World War II Fortifications Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Gunnery Towers [7] · Southernmost Gunnery Tower [3] ·
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TR0779, 48 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Rob Farrow   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 18 August, 2019   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 23 August, 2019
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TR 077 795 [100m precision]
WGS84: 51:28.5790N 0:59.3712E
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TR 0767 7961
View Direction
Southeast (about 135 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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