oCDo, 6 months ago

Waiheke’s Stony Batter fort was built in WWII to defend #Auckland against feared Japanese invasion (a sub did launch aerial recon & a German raider mined the Gulf). Excavated by hand, the base housed ~200 soldiers & labourers under strict secrecy. A DOC concession allows $ entry into restored tunnels & chambers; free to walk around 8M yr old basalt boulders above. The 9.2” naval guns had a range of 34km.

🚗 #Travel #RoadTrip #Nomad 🇳🇿 #Aotearoa #NZ #NewZealand 🤔🌲🧭❤️ #CREWmission 📷 #Photography

Colour illumination of concrete-lined tunnels; this one descends 7 stories to the bombproof plotting room 200m below ground
The red line on this chart marks the range of the 9.2” naval guns; target positions were plotted by combining information from several data sources
2 of 3 planned naval guns were installed; this is No. 3 gun position, which was never completed to save costs once it became clear the tide had turned against Japanese advances