Fort Charlotte (2)

Fort Charlotte (2) (1798-1965) - A British colonial coastal fort established in 1795 by Prince Edward on George's Island in Halifax Harbor in present day Halifax County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Officially named Fort Charlotte on 20 Oct 1798 for Queen Charlotte, Prince Edward's mother. Abandoned in 1965. Fort Charlotte, Upper Battery 9in RML Gun Emplacement.) Fort Charlotte, Upper Battery QF Gun Emplacement. Fort Charlotte on George's Island History Part of the Harbor Defense of Halifax. Fort Charlotte, Entrance & Guard House. Fort Charlotte Artillery Store & RML Lab Buildings. Fort Charlotte Caponier Exterior. Fort Charlotte Caponier Interior. Fort Charlotte Primer Store. Fort Charlotte Casemated Gun, Lower Battery. Fort Charlotte Light House Keeper's House. Fort Charlotte Light House. The original Fort Charlotte was a star shaped fort built on George's Island in 1795. The fort had a central 45' square blockhouse and two semi-circular batteries (North and South). In 1811 the star fort was demolished and replaced with casemated batteries and the Fort Charlotte Martello Tower. In 1864-1866 the South Battery was replaced with a modern 7" Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) battery of eight guns and became known as the Upper Battery. In the period 1866-1869 a new four gun casemated 10" RML battery was built in the south counterscarp and connected to the Upper Battery through the south caponier. This new battery came to be known as the Lower Battery. The old North Battery was unchanged but was disarmed in 1878. By 1877 the Martello tower had been removed. With the advent of longer range rifled weapons the defense of the harbor moved further out and Fort Charlotte's role changed to inner harbor defense. The new role included underwater mines and submarine nets as well as quick firing smaller caliber guns to protect the harbor against small high speed torpedo boats. These defenses were in place for World War I. During World War II an anti-aircraft battery was stationed at the fort. Fort Charlotte (2) (edit list) Facility Dates Description Notes North Battery 1795 Eight North Battery gun emplacements North Caponiers 1829 Defensive Caponiers Upper Battery 1864 Eight Upper Battery gun emplacements display guns Main Magazine and Tunnel Complex 1865 Underground complex with interconnecting tunnels and rooms South Caponiers 1866 Defensive south, southeast and southwest Caponiers Guardroom and Prisoners' Quarters 1866 Guardroom and prisoners' quarters built into a deep cut in the rampart Main Magazine 1866 Main bombproof magazine Lower Battery 1868 Heavy muzzleloading rifled (RML) guns in a casemated battery Artillery Stores Building 1873 Single story brick artillery stores building Stores Building 1885 Single story brick carpenter shop and smithy near submarine cable tank Laboratory building 1885 Single story brick laboratory for making cartridges and filling shells for the RML guns Loaded Mine Stores 1896 Storage of loaded mines until they were required for practice or distribution in the event of attack Married Officers Quarters 1901 Single story brick married officers quarters Current Status Part of Georges Island National Historic Site, Halifax County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The park is currently closed to visitors and access to the island is restricted. Location: George's Island in Halifax Harbor, Halifax County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Maps & Images Lat: 44.64078 Long: -63.55908 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: .....' See Also: Harbor Defense of Halifax Sources: Piers, Harry, The Evolution of the Halifax Fortress 1749-1928, The Public Archives of Nova Scotia, 1947, 155 pages Links: North American Forts - Fort Charlotte Parks Canada - Georges Island National Historic Site Canada's Historic Places - Georges Island National Historic Site Visited: 4 Jul 2013