Fort du Mengant

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 magazines.

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 boats, in order to adapt the fort to this evolution in warfare.

[1] 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.