Fort du Mengant
Encyclopedia
Plouzané
Plouzané is a commune in the Finistère department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-History:The shores south of Plouzané are in a strategic location for the defense of the Goulet de Brest...
is part of the defences of the roadstead of Brest
Roadstead of Brest
The roadstead of Brest is a roadstead or bay located in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. The surface area is about 180 km² . The port of Brest is located on its northern edge and one of the two French naval bases...
. It is made up of a high battery (58m above sea-level), with a now-destroyed artillery tower, and a lower semi-circular battery at the foot of the cliff, with two small powder magzaines.
Built by Vauban
Vauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
in 1684, it faces the batterie de cornouaille
Pointe de Cornouaille
La pointe de Cornouaille is a cape to the north of the hamlet of Kerviniou in France. They are both situated on the Roscanvel peninsula and, facing as it does the Fort du Mengant, a battery on the point forms part of the defences of the goulet de Brest....
on the Roscanvel peninsula, built to the same model as the lower part of the fort du Mengant. The aim was to permit these two batteries, only just over 2 km apart, to bar entry to the roadstead. The original plans foresaw the completion of the defences by adding a battery in the middle of the goulet, on the Roche Mengant, but this proved impossible due to the tides and currents in the goulet.
Around 1875, the naval ministry built a dam up against the lower battery to create a small harbour in which to base motor torpedo boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s, in order to adapt the fort to this evolution in warfare. The lower battery houses the annexe to the Centre Nautique des Equipages de la Marine, whilst the upper battery is now used for radar testing. An imposing ramp was built in the 1960s to link the port to the upper battery so that the largest pieces of radar equipment to be tested could be carried up to it from the port.
External links
- Fort and tower du Mengant (general inventory)
- Fort du Mengant (photos)
- on the Vauban remains
- The fort du Mengant on the Plouzané site