Chile in
Niebla, Chile, an example of a coastal defense In
Colonial times the
Spanish Empire diverted significant resources to fortify the Chilean coast as consequence of Dutch and English raids. The
Dutch occupation of Valdivia in 1643 caused great alarm among Spanish authorities and triggered the construction of the
Valdivian Fort System that begun in 1645. As consequence of the
Seven Years' War the Valdivian Fort System was updated and reinforced from 1764 onwards. Other vulnerable localities of colonial Chile such as
Chiloé Archipelago,
Concepción,
Juan Fernández Islands and
Valparaíso were also made ready for an eventual English attack.
China Museum, China. China first established formal coastal defences during the early
Ming dynasty (14th century) to protect against attacks by
pirates (
wokou). Coastal defences were maintained through both the Ming dynasty and the
Qing dynasty that followed, protecting the coast against pirates, and against the
Portuguese and other
European powers that sought to impose their will on China. Subsequently, the European powers built their own coastal defences to protect the various colonial enclaves that they established along the Chinese coast. One such, a fort built by the
British commanding the
Lei Yue Mun channel between
Hong Kong Island and the mainland, has been converted into the
Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence. This tells the story of coastal defence along the South China coast from the Ming dynasty onwards. Taiwan has several coastal fortifications, with some, such as
Fort Zeelandia or Anping Castle dating to the time of the
Dutch East India Company. Others, such as
Cihou Fort,
Eternal Golden Castle,
Hobe Fort, date more to the end of the 19th century. The
Uhrshawan Battery dates primarily to the first half of the 19th century. It actually underwent bombardment during the
Sino-French War.
Malta , which was built in 1618, was used by the
Armed Forces of Malta until 2002. The islands of
Malta,
Gozo and
Comino all have some form of coastal fortification. The area around the
Grand Harbour was possibly first fortified during Arab rule, and by the 13th century, a castle known as the
Castrum Maris was built in
Birgu to protect the harbour. The Maltese islands were given to
Order of Saint John in 1530, who settled in
Birgu and rebuilt the Castrum Maris as
Fort Saint Angelo. In the 1550s,
Fort Saint Elmo and
Fort Saint Michael were built, and walls surrounded the coastal cities of Birgu and
Senglea. In 1565, the
Great Siege of Malta reduced many of these coastal fortifications to rubble, but after the siege they were rebuilt. The fortified city of
Valletta was built on the Sciberras Peninsula, and further modifications were made to the fortifications over the years. The harbour area was strengthened even more by the building of the
Floriana Lines,
Santa Margherita Lines,
Cottonera Lines and
Fort Ricasoli in the 17th century and
Fort Manoel and
Fort Tigné in the nearby
Marsamxett Harbour in the 18th century. The Order also built
Fort Chambray near
Mġarr Harbour in Gozo. In the early 15th century, a number of watch posts had been established around Malta's coastline. In the early 17th century, the Order began to strengthen the coastal fortifications outside the harbour area, by building
watchtowers. The first of these was
Garzes Tower, which was built in 1605. The
Wignacourt,
Lascaris and
De Redin towers were built over the course of the 17th century. The last coastal watchtower to be built was
Isopu Tower in 1667. Between 1605 and 1667, a total of 31 towers were built, of which 22 survive today (with another 3 in ruins). From 1714 onwards, about 52
batteries and
redoubts, along with several entrenchments, were built around the coasts of Malta and Gozo. Many of these have been destroyed, but a few examples still survive. After the British took Malta in 1800, they modified the Order's defences in the harbour area to keep up with new technology. Malta itself,
Gibraltar,
Bermuda, and
Halifax, Nova Scotia were designated
Imperial fortresses. The
Corradino Lines were built in the 1870s to protect the Grand Harbour from landward attacks. Between 1872 and 1912, many forts and batteries were built around the coastline. The first of these was
Sliema Point Battery, built to protect the northern approach to the Grand Harbour. A chain of fortifications, including
Fort Delimara and
Fort Benghisa, was also built to protect
Marsaxlokk Harbour. From 1935 to the 1940s, the British built many
pillboxes in Malta for defence in case of an Italian invasion.
New Zealand Armstrong
disappearing gun at
North Head, New Zealand The coastline of
New Zealand was fortified in two main waves. The first wave occurred around 1885 and was a response to fears of an attack by
Russia. The second wave occurred during
World War II and was due to fears of invasion by the
Japanese. The
fortifications were built from
British designs adapted to New Zealand conditions. These installations typically included gun emplacements, pill boxes, fire command or
observation posts,
camouflage strategies, underground
bunkers, sometimes with interconnected tunnels, containing
magazines, supply and plotting rooms and protected engine rooms supplying power to the
gun turrets and
searchlights. The prospect of war with European powers in the 1790s led to a national programme of fortification building spanning seventy years in three phases, known as the First, Second and Third Systems. By the time of the
American Civil War, advances in
armour and
weapons had made
masonry forts obsolete, and the combatants discovered that their
steamships and
ironclad warships could penetrate Third System defences with acceptable losses. In 1885 US President
Grover Cleveland appointed the
Endicott Board, whose recommendations would lead to a large-scale modernization programme of harbour and coastal defences in the United States, especially the construction of well dispersed, open topped
reinforced concrete emplacements protected by sloped earthworks. Many of these featured
disappearing guns, which sat protected behind the walls, but could be raised to fire.
Underwater mine fields were a critical component of the defence, and smaller guns were also employed to protect the mine fields from
minesweeping vessels. Defences of a given harbor were initially designated artillery districts, redesignated as
coast defense commands in 1913 and as harbor defense commands in 1924. In 1901 the
Artillery Corps was divided into field artillery and coast artillery units, and in 1907 the
United States Army Coast Artillery Corps was created to operate these defences.
United Kingdom is situated beside
Weymouth Harbour, UK. The walls around coastal cities, such as
Southampton, had evolved from simpler Norman fortifications by the start of the 13th century. Later,
King Edward I was a prolific castle builder and sites such as
Conwy Castle, built 1283 to 1289, defend river approaches as well as the surrounding land. Built 1539 to 1544, the
Device Forts are a series of artillery fortifications built for
Henry VIII to defend the southern coast of England. Between 1804 and 1812 the British authorities built a chain of towers known as
Martello Towers to
defend the south and east coast of England, Ireland,
Jersey and
Guernsey against
possible invasion from
France. This type of tower was also used elsewhere in the British Empire and in the United States. In the early
Victorian era,
Alderney was strongly fortified to provide a massive anchorage for the British Navy before France became an ally of Britain in the
Crimean War, even so plans changed slowly and the
Palmerston Forts, a group of forts and associated structures were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860
Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, following concerns about the strength of the French Navy. In 1865 Lieutenant
Arthur Campbell Walker, of the
School of Musketry advocated the use of
armoured trains on "an iron high-road running parallel with that other 'silent highway', the source of all our greatness, the ocean, our time-honoured 'moat and circumvallation'" During the
First World War the British Admiralty designed eight towers code named
M-N that were to be built and positioned in the
Straits of Dover to protect allied merchant shipping from German
U-boats.
Nab Tower is still in situ. The
Maunsell Forts were small fortified towers, primarily for
anti-aircraft guns, built in the
Thames and
Mersey estuaries during the
Second World War. With the advent of missile technology coastal forts became obsolete. Britain's coastal forts were therefore decommissioned in 1956 and the units manning them disbanded.
Russian Federation Russia Federation developed
A-222E Bereg-E 130mm coastal mobile artillery system,
K-300P Bastion-P coastal defence system and Bal-E coastal missile complex with
Kh-35/Kh-35E missiles. coastal defense launching
SS-N-3 Shaddock == See also ==