Princess Royal Fortress

Princess Royal Fortress also known as Albany Forts was a fortress on the northern shore of Atatürk entrance on Princess Royal Harbour on Mount Adelaide overlooking King George Sound in Albany, Western Australia. It now operates as a museum.

The fortress is named after Princess Royal Harbour, which George Vancouver had named in 1791 after Princess Charlotte Augusta Matilda. The site occupies an area of approximately 11 acres (4 ha).

During the 19th century the loss of the port was deemed a potential threat to the state and the nation. All the Australian states contributed the funds to build the fortress, and the British Government provided the guns. The fortress was the first federal defence project in Australia, without the country yet having a federal government, and opened in 1893. Two gun batteries were dug into the hillside of Mount Adelaide: Fort Princess Royal with two Mark IV 6-inch BL guns, and Fort Plantagenet with one six inch gun.

In 1897 a fire, caused by an incendiary, destroyed the canteen, mess-room and library. The buildings were all weatherboard, with matchwood lining and galvanised metal roofs.

The fortress was staffed by eight officers and five men of the South Australian Permanent Artillery in 1902.

A fire broke out in buildings at the western end of the forts in 1907. The quartermaster sergeant's office, the armament room and the stationary locker were burned to the ground.

In 1909 the Mk VI gun at the Plantagenet battery developed a fault in the barrel, the gun was scrapped and Fort Plantagenet was abandoned. The remaining guns were replaced with emplaced Mk VII guns in 1945, and the old guns were scrapped. From 1893 to 1956 the guns never fired a shot in anger. In 1956, with the advent of the missile era, all coastal defenses were made redundant and closed, including Princess Royal. Many of the military installations were demolished or dismantled. The buildings were alternatively used as school rooms, migrant hostels and then holiday camps, by the 1970s the site was abandoned and succumbed to vandalism.

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