Monday, July 06, 2009

Guess That Geographical Location—6 July 2009

image
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Photo via Google Maps.

Congrats to gelt.

See the extended entry for details.

This is Fort Denison, guarding the approaches to Sydney, Australia.

A neat story, via Wikipedia:

In 1900, as the Boer war raged in Africa, the White Star Line ship Medic sailed into Sydney Harbour and dropped anchor in Neutral Bay. One evening, the fourth officer, Charles Lightoller and four midshipmen rowed to Fort Denison and climbed the tower with a plan to fool locals into believing a Boer raiding party was attacking Sydney. They hoisted a makeshift Boer flag on the lightning conductor and fired one of the cannons located at the fort.

The conservative citizens of Sydney frowned upon this activity and after an investigation Lightoller accepted sole responsibility for the incident and was reprimanded. White Star Lines apologised and paid damages to the city.

Charles Lightoller went on to be the second officer of the RMS Titanic and the most senior officer to survive the 1912 sinking of the ship.

 

(6) Comments
Posted by Jed at 0659 hrs
Off-Duty + Fun With Maps

  1. Nothing yet, so here’s a hint. 

    This facility guards the approaches to a major city.

    Posted by Jed on July 06, 2009 at 1118 hrs


  2. Hmmmm…. the tower on the right looks like a lighthouse (or lookout tower).  The construction suggests Spanish or Portuguese construction.  The large gun with the tracks looks like it was retrofitted for WWI or so.  All of the gun emplacements are facing the same direction, so it must be close to shore (they didn’t expect ships to get behind them).  The new facility side has what looks like a large Palm tree, so that suggests a climate. 

    Hmmmm…

    Posted by Owen on July 06, 2009 at 1135 hrs


  3. Fort Denison, Sydney harbor (Australia)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 06, 2009 at 1150 hrs


  4. Sure enough. The gun placements really interest me then.  Why are they all pointing to the SE?  There’s a lot of water behind them.  Did there used to be gun placements on the other side?  I don’t see a battery on the shore to North or Northwest to cover that gap. 

    Anyone know?

    Posted by Owen on July 06, 2009 at 1155 hrs


  5. As I read a little, there were additional guns on top of the tower to give it a 360 degree firing opportunity, but still, the line of big guns all only cover half the horizon.

    Posted by Owen on July 06, 2009 at 1202 hrs


  6. Guam?

    Posted by GAMazy on July 06, 2009 at 1210 hrs


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