article_snippet.sent: Built between 1867 and 1880, The No Man's Fort was one of several forts ordered by then-Prime Minister Lord Palmerston to fend off the French Navy.
article_snippet.sent: The No Man's Fort needed a huge engineering effort to cut vast blocks of granite and transport vast blocks of granite by barge to the building site, before vast blocks of granite were lowered onto the sea bed for The No Man's Fort foundations.
article_snippet.sent: It was the first fort in England, and possibly Europe, to use hydraulic power to move the guns in horizontal and vertical planes for targeting and the first to be lighted throughout with electricity.
article_snippet.sent: The No Man's Fort was in active use by the military up to 1957 - housing anti-aircraft guns during the Second World War - and became a scheduled ancient monument in 1967.
article_snippet.sent: Built between 1867 and 1880, it was originally used to defend the coast against French invasion, and was used during both world wars to protect Portsmouth Harbour from attacks.
article_snippet.sent: In order to construct The No Man's Fort, huge blocks of granite were transported by barge to the site, and were lowered onto the seabed for the site foundations.