Talk:Maunsell Forts

John Bray
John Bray is copying this information from his website www.forts.org.uk See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fort_Charlotte —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vicarage (talk • contribs) 13:01, 3 October 2004

I've added quite a bit of material, mainly derived from books and websites (main source cited). I've got various books and records about the history of the fort-based pirate stations, but they're all safely stored away where I can't find them (sigh). Lee M 01:16, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Radar

 * As well as their role in hindering German air raids, the Naval forts have also been credited with extending radar coverage in the Thames Estuary, allowing the Navy to pinpoint the positions of newly-laid enemy mines and avoid them.

This paragraph is confusing and needs a little explanation. (1) Was radar installed on the forts? This is implied but should be made clear. It's an interesting question because the military certainly would not have wanted a radar transmitter to fall into German hands, and these forts were pretty easily capturable. The risk/reward formula must have been interesting. (2) Does the latter part of the sentence mean that the radar was only used to spot German minelayers?

Tempshill 00:24, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

(1) Both styles of Forts mounted radar for target search and aquisition, as well as fire direction. Note that Chain Home radar arrays were openly installed in 1939, and operated at a time of far greater risk. Air defence of Britain was considered to be paramount, and the Allies were well aware that Germany had far superior operational Radar technology prior to this date. There would seem to be a very fair risk/reward formula there.
 * NB. Military equipment installed on the Forts consisted of 3.7” guns Mk 2c with automatic loaders by Mollins of Deptford. Radar No 3 Mk 2 subsequently updated and modernised to Radar No 3 Mk 7. Sperry Predictors No 11 and Searchlight No 2 Mk 2.
 * Thames forts shot down 22 planes, 30 flying bombs, and were instrumental in the loss of one U-boat, which was scuttled after coming under fire from Tongue sands tower.

http://www.project-redsand.com/other_htm/The_Maunsell_Forts_of_the_Thames_Estuary.htm

Fire Control Radar No.3 MkVII (Yellow River) http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/n/newton_orange_yeoman/index.html

Modified Sperry Gyroscope Company Fire Solution Predictor http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/28/a8644728.shtml

(2) Saying something is allowed suggests unique or additional capability, not the exclusion of prior inherent capability. EWAD radar looks "up and out" and has a blind zone "under the radar" that cannot be monitored, thus may be exploited. The sea-based tactical tranceivers were farther out, and could scan lower, allowing for surface searches of their operating areas.

(Pardon my messiness, still trying to learn the command system here. Rakkasan 05:28, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

M/S Baalbek
 

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.178.234.135 (talk • contribs) 20:26, 26 February 2006

Maunsell Forerunners
Great War M-N Towers at Shoreham Harbour, Victorian-era Spithead Forts in the Solent

Should these additional and lesser known offshore fortifications be mentioned in the article, or linked as being relevant to the topic?

http://www.bobleroi.co.uk/ScrapBook/Solent/Solent.html

http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/interactive/gallery/nab_tower.html

http://www.forelands.demon.co.uk/Nab.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Sand_Fort Rakkasan 07:30, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Map, please!
A map of the locations of these would be very helpful. Especially to readers not highly familiar with UK geography for whom "Thames Estuary" is a bit vague.

68.40.41.33 11:49, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

sea air overdose
I removed the following text that was added without reference. The phrase 'sea air overdose' also doesn't show up anywhere beyond this article:
 * Famously, David Bowie occupied the army forts for much of the 1990s until he suffered a sea air overdose and was admitted to South End hospital in the UK. Bowie never returned. In 2002 some of his possessions left in the fort were briefly advertised on the online auction site Ebay but were quickly removed, actioned by Bowie's lawyers.  Items included a monocular, underwear and a merkin.

Dstanfor (talk) 20:04, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

And Now?
Having given the history, it would be good to sum up what we have now, then if it be known, what any projected future for them is.

IceDragon64 (talk) 20:11, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Dimensions of sea forts
It would be helpful to have example dimensions of a sea fort, so the scale of this endeavor can be appreciated. 71.239.87.100 (talk) 17:04, 14 October 2014 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
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This article needs additional citations for verification
Are there are any particular areas that need additional citations ? I didn't find any particular 'citation required' notes. I've been scouring the Frank Turner books recently, so may have sources for some of the claims. Im also planning to visit the national archives in the near future, so may be able to look into specifics. Rasathus (talk) 22:05, 30 October 2018 (UTC)

Vision for article structure
I note that the article is a bit inconsistent at the moment with some of the forts having their own pages, and others only a section on this one.

Are there any particular opinions as to the best approach to structuring these ?

I've recently come into possession of a number of books giving extensive dates of the construction of the original towers, there grounding and service details. The books also reference a number of articles from the national archives which I plan to go see. I'd like to look at restructuring these articles to include some of the information, but wanted to avoid stepping on any toes. Thanks Rasathus (talk) 22:13, 30 October 2018 (UTC)