the battery in 1907 but removed in 1920, and in 1938 the battery was reconstructed and fitted with two larger guns. The anti-aircraft batteries, and mortar emplacements have been partially demolished. There are a number of defensive concrete pill boxes still scattered around the area in the dunes and on the beach. What is now the South Gare Marine Club is the site of a maintenance base for electrically fired submarine mines defending the mouth of the River Tees. Lifeboat station There has been a lifeboat at Teesmouth since 1829 when the RNLI was founded. The present Teesmouth Lifeboat Station was founded in 1911 and in 1914 a boathouse and slipway was built to launch the lifeboat. The lifeboat station has had a Tyne class lifeboat since 1986 and in 2003 new lifeboat crew facilities were built however the lifeboat station was closed a few years later with coverage being supplied by Hartlepool lifeboat. South Gare Lighthouse The South Gare Lighthouse was built in 1884 at the end of South Gare breakwater and is owned and operated by PD Ports. Coastguard station A coastguard station is located south of South Gare Lighthouse. To the immediate south of the coastguard station is a short steel frame tower. This tower houses a radar antenna, an automatic fog detector and a vertical set of four sectored red and white leading lights for navigation purposes. There is second fog detector system mounted on the Fairway Buoy in Tees Bay outside the river entrance. River entrance The River Tees entrance created between South Gare, and the North Gare to the west is wide. The water depth at the mouth of the Tees at low tide has altered over the years. In 1863 it was 3 ft 6 inches but today stands at . Two suction dredgers and occasionally a grab dredger are used to keep the shipping channel clear. Tees pilots Since 1988 Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority's pilot services for Hartlepool, Teesport and the River Tees have been based at the pilot station at South Gare. Harbours Paddy's Hole is a small harbour constructed from slag in the lagoon on the Teesmouth side of South Gare. It is named Paddy's Hole because of the many Irishmen who helped build the South Gare. There are also two smaller harbours south of Paddy's Hole named Guy's Hole and Powder Hole (or Sand Hole). Between Guy's Hole