The fort du Mengant or fort du Léon in the commune of
Plouzané
Plouzané () is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.
History
The shores south of Plouzané are in a strategic location for the defense of the Goulet de Brest strait and were fortified by Sébastien Le Pr ...
is part of the defences of the
roadstead of Brest
The roadstead of Brest (''rade de Brest'') is a roadstead or bay located in the Finistère Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. The surface area is about 180 km² (70 sq ...
. 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.
Built by
Vauban in 1684, it faces the
batterie de cornouaille on the Roscanvel peninsula, built to the same model as the lower part of the fort du Mengant. 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.
[''Un port à Mengam pour le stationnement de canots porte-torpilles'', Louis Chauris, Les cahiers de l'Iroise, N°193, May 2002] 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. An imposing ramp was built in the 1960s to link the port to the upper battery so that the largest pieces of radar equipment to be tested could be carried up to it from the port.
References
External links
Fort and tower du Mengant(general inventory)
Fort du Mengant(photos)
The fort du Mengant on the Plouzané site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Du Mengant
Mengant
Tourist attractions in Finistère