Fort Denison, Sydney Harbour

Fort Denison is on Pinchgut Island in Sydney Harbour. It is called Pinchgut because a convict from the First Fleet - Thomas Hill, was sentenced to a week on bread and water in irons there for a week in 1788. In 1796 the Colonial Government installed a gallows on Pinchgut.

In 1839 two US warships entered Sydney Harbour at night and circled Pinchgut Island. As a result a start was made on fortifying the island to protect Sydeny from attack, but this was not finished. In 1855 work was resumed because of fears of Russian attack during the Crimean War. The resulting fort was named Fort Denison after Sir William Thomas Denison, the then governor of New South Wales.

The fort has at its centre a Martello Tower, first devised in the Napoleonic Wars by the British as strong points along the British coast. This is the only one in Australia, and its walls are upto 6.7metres thick. The garrison was 24 soldiers and three 8 inch muzzle loading guns, plus wo massive 10 inch guns - one on the top of the Tower and another at the other end of the island.

The only time the Fort saw action was in 1942 when the USS Chicago fired on three Japanese midget submarines that had penetrated the Harbour, and some of its shells hit Fort Denison.

The Fort is now a tourist attraction and being in Sydney has a cafe.