an expected delivery date of within 12 months and construction could finally begin. Construction Surveying of the site was conducted in April 1942 and by September a camp for 160 workers had been constructed. Tunneling began in December, with construction initially conducted by Downer & Co Ltd. By late 1943 a manpower shortage meant that the Department of Public Works had to step in, providing men recently returned from the disbanded 3rd Division. As the strategic situation in the Pacific became more favorable and the threat of Japanese Invasion reduced, construction of the battery slowed. Due to a change in priorities and in an effort to reduce costs, the government decided in January 1944 to reduce the battery from three to two guns. The site was complete by June and the two remaining guns were installed by the end of 1944. The final cost of construction was £249,120, double the original estimate of £122,430. Post War After the war it became clear that the fortress would serve little purpose and only served as a training facility. The No. 1 gun was tested on 28 June 1946, firing three rounds into Cook Strait at ranges of 10,000; 22,500 and 30,000 yards. The report from the guns resulted in a total of nineteen windows being broken at the fortress. A further three windows were broken and a plaster ceiling cracked in residential properties near the fortress on Verveirs Street and were repaired by the Public Works Department. The No.2 gun was later tested on 26 March 1947, firing a further three shots. The fortress suffered eight more windows broken (those broken in the testing of the No.1 gun had been replaced with stronger glass and all survived the second test) and also had some of the internal wall and ceiling linings collapse. The test firings were both considered successes, and were the only shots ever fired by the fortress. In 1953 the Army placed Wrights Hill Fortress on a "long term care and maintenance basis" and the fortress was sealed in a state of preservation. In 1957 the Coastal Artillery branch was reduced to a cadre status and effectively disbanded. The guns were initially sold for scrap to the Sydney based company Bradman & Coin in 1960, but were ultimately sold on, ironically, to Japan. The gun pits were filled in in 1961 and the defence reserve status was lifted, although 10th