aerial photographs of the Maunsell Sea Forts

Lying just off the coast are the remains of the Maunsell Sea Forts built during world war 2. In the early part of the war bombers had an easy time with navigation simply following the coast and then the river thames and as soon as the glinting river was covered by some bridges it was time to release bombs annd go home for beer and sausages. To spoil this fun these fort structures were built which consisted of a searchlight tower and then 5 interconnected gun platforms. They were originally connected by an aerial walkway which has now fallen away. Considering how old these are they are in remarkable condition with the loss of just one tower at Shivering sands. The construction was the forerunner of the North Sea Oil platforms for which these can be seen as a sort of pilot project. During the 60's a number of pirate radio stations operated from the fort and the Radio City logo can still be seen on one of the Shivering Sands towers.