Fort Takapuna - Auckland , New Zealand
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- "Fort Takapuna was part of a chain of defences around Auckland harbour. Other forts were built at North Head, Bastion Point, Point Resolution (above the Parnell Baths), and later in 1899 on Mount Victoria. This fort housed two 6 inch disappearing guns which controlled the approaches to the Rangitoto Channel. These guns were mounted in the two circular gun pits in the underground part of the fort.
At this time there were no roofs on these pits. Two smaller Nordenfelt guns, an early form of quick firing gun, were used to protect the outer flanks of the fort. The top of the iron pillar on which one of these guns was mounted can still be seen in the grass on the north-western side of the fort.
Between the gun pits there is an underground magazine for storing ammunition. On the floors of the tunnels you can still see the railway tracks on which the ammunition trolleys ran.
In the middle of the underground section there is a well which provided water for the fort. Outside in the defensive ditch a barracks was built to house the soldiers. This is the brick building with the castellated roof. By 1922 the fort’s armament was obsolete and the guns were removed from the gun pits and left outside until they were taken by a scrap merchant in 1959.
In 1926/27 the old fort was converted into a storage area for naval ammunition. The gun pits were roofed and the building next to the old barracks constructed as part of the magazine complex.
The engine room housed a steam engine and dynamo to provide power for the searchlights. One searchlight is situated down the tunnel on the right-hand side of the courtyard and there is another to the west accessed from a 66m long tunnel at the back of the engine room. At present this is blocked off. The searchlights were used from 1899 until the end of World War II. This engine room is in the best state of preservation of any of these structures anywhere in the country.
The three white concrete structures on the cliff top were part of the 4 inch ‘Examination Battery’ first established in 1938, which was used to control the anchorage where ships entering the harbour were examined. These guns were originally from the World War I battle cruiser HMS New Zealand. Two can still be seen outside the Auckland Museum.
The Observation Post for these guns is located above the old fort. Auckland's World War II harbour defences included underwater detection devices and an anti-submarine boom." (DoC)
Not as extensive as the fortifications on North Head ( • New Zealand . North He... ) with no accessible tunnels but still worth a look.
#forttakapuna
Love the drawing you put in your video 😊
Thank you so much 😀
Now that certainly is an amazing complex! Those ground too are so meticulously maintained! Awesome!!
@@wendingourway hey thanks a lot. 😀
Interesting place 👍 😊
@@NorwayHikesTrails hey thanks. I’ve not seen another building like the brick one anywhere else in NZ
Hello my dear friend Sir Chris! Nice footages and informative and very interesting! Thank you for sharing history will remain historical because it leaves so much marks that will remain in our minds and country's pride.
Hi there , glad you enjoyed the Quick Look at the fort, not much remains but what does is well looked after 😀
Great photos and interesting history Chris! They built similar coastal fort / defensive forts in the Puget Sound area to protect the Seattle area. It’s really fascinating to visit now- it’s a whole other world now! Seeing the fort really help history come alive. 👌 Really enjoyed the music too! 👍👍 Jen 😄
@@JenniferLupine Thanks Jennifer, I always find these fortifications interesting having had both my grandfather (ww1 France) and my father (WW2 pilot ) involved in conflict and the other day while finally getting around to compiling my family tree discovered that at least two of mums family were killed in WW1. These days those kinds of forts would be wiped out from thousands of km away. The music in this video seems to have been very popular 😀 , I check on youtube from time to time to see what new music has been added to their library, this is one of the new ones.
Very nice place to be. I have been Living closely to this reserve for a few years and just found it down last year 😅 it’s worth a look. There is a history of it. ❤
@@kyliehewitt788 thanks for viewing Kylie . I think it isn’t especially well signposted and looks like a second entrance to the adjacent navy training facility.
Great Video Chris, the video and music is very relaxing
Thanks Tony , appreciate the view . Always hard predicting how these clips will fly 😀.
Oh wow, now I never knew that about a fort in Takapuna. Lived there many a year. Amazing. Great video and choice of music Chris. A treat to watch. Shared on my FB page. 🇳🇱😎🥝 👌
Hey thanks a lot, I’ve lived here almost ten years and never knew about it till my wife was managing a project to put those rocks along the road edge to keep vehicles off the large grass reserve at the entrance. Interestingly that whole grass area was covered in tents and small buildings at one stage. The little brick building is a treat, I had to wait quite a few months to finish off this video as the building was covered in scaffolding for the purpose, as far as I could tell of repairing or replacing the bitumen roof.
@@Chris-NZ awesome to now know about its existence. 👌
Amazing video Chris. Never knew it even existed. You put these videos together well. Best regards to you and Family from me.
Thanks Max, these fortifications form just part of an extensive collection along this coastline. Perhaps the best ones are on North Head although you can no longer get into as many of the tunnels as was possible ten years ago.
Wow! It's really interesting to see the design, map and the workers in the engine room. As usual, great footage and captures of different areas and information 👍👍📽🏠
@@chilleats7024 hi, thanks a lot. I couldn’t find many pictures of this facility either at the local Navy museum or at the nearby Devonport museum but I’m sure there must be some archived somewhere. Not much remains of the original facility not least because much of it was of a temporary nature used during WW2 in particular. There is an enormous field to the north which was covered in small huts and tents at the time!!
@@Chris-NZ Wow, that's really interesting, a piece of history well shared
It was my project to put the rocks around the edge of this reserve to block the vehicle driving through to the beachfront 😂
Well done , they sure keep the cars off the park 😀