Garrison Point Fort
Garrison Point Fort at Sheerness was built as a result of the Royal Commision of 1860,which reviewed national defences of Britain in case of an attack by France. In 1869 there was a second Commison to report on the progress of defence work carried out by the first Commision. By 1872 Garrison Point Fort had been constructed on the site of the former Half Moon Battery and Cavalier Battery. The Fort was built to defend the entrance of the River Medway and the Royal Dockyards of Sheerness and Chatham.
The Fort is granit faced,Semi Circular with 2 tiers of Casemates and what would have been Officers Quarters at the rear. The magazines and connecting passages are underground reached by steps from the parade ground.
The Fort was armed with 36, 9" and 10" Riffled Muzzle Loaders guns,protected behind iron sheilds in the Casemates. In 1880 11" and 12.5" guns were added. In 1909 two 6" Breech Loaders were installed on the roof and four 12pdr Quick firing guns in the lower level. Shortly before WWII two twin 6pdrs were installed on the roof and one 6pdr in front of the fort which remained untill 1956.
The Fort was also used for trials of the Brennan Torpedo and parts of the launching rails are still visable in the water,as well as the Observation posts,Control rooms and Workshop.
One end of the Boom across the River Medway was anchored at Garrison Point,the other end being at the Grain Tower Battery. On top of the Fort are the remains of the former Admiralty Signal Station.
The building in use on top of the Fort is the Medway Navigation Service Control Tower,which is a Radar Station and 24 hour incident room,Hydrographic Office and Pilot Station. Today the Fort and Sheerness Dockyard are owned by Medway Ports Authority.
RNXS Emergency Port Control
Some of the magazines of the Fort were converted for use of the RNXS (Royal Navy Auxillary Service) which was set up in 1962. This was the Emergency Port Control for use in the event of a Nuclear war. From here they would help evacuate major ports of Shipping and move large ships far out to sea.
Inside this bunker are EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) filters which would have diverted the EMP ( Electromagnetic Pulse) caused by a Nuclear explosion,without these EMI filters if a Nuclear bomb exploded electrical circuits and systems wouldn't function. The Emergency Port Control is now abandoned.