Museum of Coastal Defence

The Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence is a museum in Hong Kong, located near Lei Yue Mun in Shau Kei Wan.

The total area of the museum is 34,200 square meters. An exhibition entitled "600 years of Coastal Defence" is held permanently in the museum.

The museum was built by the British in 1887. It was originally built for coastal defence, especially for the east Victoria Harbour, but nowadays it is an exhibition center. Inside there are castle, defence basement, military vehicle and gun display etc.

The Museum consists of three main areas, namely the Reception area, the Redoubt, and the Historical Trail. It is converted from the hundred year old Lei Yue Mun Fort. Its historical structure has an extensive outdoor area with the unique architectural design, a strong tensile structure with other traditional building material, which provides a comfort and historical feeling for visitors.

The casemates inside the Redoubt were converted into exhibition galleries for permanent displsys on the history of Hong Kong's Coastal Defence covering the Ming and Qing period, the British period, the Japanese invasion and the period after the resumpyion of Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong.

Historical military structures in the site

(1) Redoubt: It was built in 1887 and formerly the core military structure of the Lei Yue Mun Fort.

(2) Central Battery: This battery was completed in March 1887. The gun barrel on the display is a 7 inch (17.8 cm) RML Mark 1 gun of 4.5 tons dating from the 1870s.

(3) Western Battery: Two 9 inch (23 cm) muzzle loading guns mounted in this battery in March 1887. The barrel displayed here, which was found in the Admiralty Garden site in 1990, alone weighted 12 tons.

(4) The torpedo station: The Brennan Torpedo station at Lei Yue Mun was built between 1892 and 1894. It was hewn out of the rock of the headland . It was the last to be constructed either in Britain or her overseas possessions.

(5) Lei Yue Mun Pass Battery: This battery was built to defend the harbour from small, high speed torpedo carrying destroyers and was completed in March 1892.

Miscellaneous

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. everyday except for Thursdays and the first two days of the Chinese New Year and the time for the last admission is 4:30 p.m.

See also: Museums in Hong Kong

External link

• Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence