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Louisbourg |
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Fort Rodd |
Halifax Citadel |
Prince of Wales |
Fort MacLeod
Fort Steele |
Fort Henry |
Fort Anne
Fort Rodd is a
National Historic Site located at the entrance of
Esquimalt Harbour near Victoria. Royal Navy vessels had
first arrived in this area in 1776 when Captain James
Cook, during his voyages of exploration charted the
coast of BC and established a claim for Britain to the
Pacific Northwest. Captain George Vancouver followed in
his footsteps in the 1790's when he circumnavigated
Vancouver Island and charted the coast in detail.
As competition in the
Pacific Northwest developed with the Spanish, and then
the Americans and Russians, Britain established a Naval
base in Esquimalt in order to maintain a permanent
military presence in the area. In 1893, 300 troops
arrived to set up a coastal fort and battery to protect
the naval base from attack. 6 inch breech loading
batteries were installed by 1897 and a cost sharing
scheme worked out between Britain and Canada.
The relationship was
not to last due to the naval arms race in Europe between
Britain and German. As the German fleet grew, the Royal
Navy was forced to start to recall many of it's ships in
order to maintain it's lead over the German High Seas
Fleet in the North Sea. In 1905 the British Pacific
squadron was disbanded with 3 old sloops left in
Esquimalt. Of the 300 troops garrisoned at Fort Rodd, 60
remained and transferred to the Canadian military.
Fort Rod today offers
the visitor an opportunity to inspect the gun batteries,
magazines, command post, barracks and searchlight
emplacements. It also offers an incredible view of the
entrance to the Pacific Ocean and the Olympic Peninsula
in the US.
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