Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site is a 19th - century coastal artillery fort on the Colwood , British Columbia side of Esquimalt Harbour , ( Greater Victoria / Victoria BC Metropolitan Area ) . The site is adjacent to Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site , the first lighthouse on the west coast of Canada . Both the fort and lighthouse are managed and presented to the public by Parks Canada , and are open every day ( except Christmas Day ) . History . Rodd Hill was named after John Rashleigh Rodd , 1st Lieutenant on the under ( Capt . John A . Duntze . Rodd was later promoted to rear admiral in 1877 ; vice admiral in 1884 , and admiral in 1888 . Died 1892 . 1850 - 1878 . Britain ' s Royal Navy began using Esquimalt harbor in the 1840s , at first merely for anchorage , watering and for lumber ; but the establishment of three hospital huts during the Crimean War of 1854 - 56 marked the start of what is still an active naval base of the Royal Canadian Navy . In 1862 , the Royal Navy ' s Pacific Squadron was relocated to Esquimalt harbour from Valparaíso , Chile ( where it had utilised floating storeships rather than built facilities ashore ) . This increased presence , eventually including storehouses and workshops ashore , would require some form of coastal defence to deter naval attack by any potential enemy . This need was reinforced by the influx of American gold miners during the Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 , and by the armed standoff of U . S . and British forces during the San Juan Islands Pig War of 1859 and continuing tensions associated with that dispute until its resolution in 1871 . It was not until after the Colony of Vancouver Island had joined the mainland of British Columbia in 1866 , and then Canada in 1870 , that the first fixed coastal defences were emplaced to protect the naval base . During the Great Eastern Crisis in 1877 - 78 , increased tension between Britain and Russia over the latter ' s declaration of war on Turkey focused attention on the lack of defences for Britain ' s only naval station on the western seaboards of both North and South America . Volunteers for artillery training were mustered in Victoria on the 18th of May , while Lt - Col De La Chevois Irwin , Inspector - General of Artillery at Kingston , Ontario , was sent ( by train , across the USA ) to organize the defences . Five batteries of guns ( mainly 64 - pr naval rifled muzzle loader ) were constructed quickly , using earthen ramparts shored with timber . The largest guns of these defences were three 7 - inch RML guns at Macaulay Point ( covering the entrance of both Victoria and Esquimalt harbours ) , and one 8 - inch RML on Brothers Island ( at the mouth of Esquimalt harbor ) . The Commander - in - Chief of the Pacific Squadron , Admiral de Horsey , inspected the new batteries and declared them inadequate ; the local artillery militia could only muster enough gunners to serve half the guns and as local citizens , it was felt that they might be inclined to give preference to guns defending Victoria rather than the naval base . De Horsey recommended that a permanent garrison of 100 Royal Marine Artillery , modern guns , and a submarine minefield be established as permanent defences . 1878 - 1906 . The Canadian and British governments did not reach a defence agreement on the matter until 1893 ; during this time , the old guns and emplacements were still Victoria and Esquimalt ' s only fixed defences against attack . The 1893 agreement boiled down to this : The British government would supply : The Dominion of Canada would provide : The Royal Marine Artillery garrison , composed of specialists with two years ' training , arrived in 1894 ; they were joined by officers and men of the Royal Engineers , to oversee construction of the permanent defences . The original plan called for Chinese labour to be used in construction , but local newspapers lobbied against this , and more expensive European ( i . e . , " white " ) day labourers were employed . Between February 1894 and October 1897 , two separate forts were constructed : one at Macaulay Point ( site of earlier earthwork batteries ) , and an entirely new location at Rodd Hill , a bluff of rock overlooking the western side of the narrow entrance to Esquimalt harbour . Both forts would each mount three 6 - inch disappearing gun s ( Mk VI barrels on a Mk IV mounting ) . Because of limitations of space in Rodd Hill , two of these guns were mounted with a common magazine in " Lower Battery " , while the third required a separate battery ( along with an underground magazine , loopholed wall , water supply , guardhouse , etc . ) on another , higher hill some 200 meters away , named , logically , " Upper Battery . " These guns were sited in concrete emplacements ten feet thick , which were in turn protected by the rock massif of the hillside into which they were sunk . The barrels were normally kept down in the loading position , within the protection of the concrete emplacement ( which also had an overhead metal shield ) . Using a central Observation Post and remote electric dial system to pass target information , the guns would be loaded and aimed while in the " down " position . Only when actually about to fire , would the large hydro - pneumatic system raise the 5 - tonne barrel up over the parapet . The strength of the system was that the barrel was exposed to the enemy for a minimal amount of time , and with naval guns of the time firing on a flat trajectory , it was virtually impossible for an enemy ship to drop a shell on the emplacement , with its sloping rock glacis in front . Disadvantages of the system included a slow rate of fire ( perhaps one shot every two minutes ) , and a propensity for the complicated hydro - pneumatic system to leak . The 6 - inch guns used " non - fixed ammunition " , that is , the explosive cartridge that propelled the shell was stored and loaded separately from the shell or shot . Cartridges were made of raw silk , and stored in wooden crates in a special high - security section of the underground magazine . There were five types of shell on the Fort Rodd manifest in 1897 : High Explosive ( Lyddite ) , Armour - piercing , Common Pointed ( for non - armoured maritime targets ) , and Shrapnel . The other class of projectile ( and the one most often fired ) was a solid steel shot ( without any cavity for explosives or fuses , it was cheapest to produce ) . The shells and shot all had the same service weight of 94 pounds ( to simplify calculation of elevation and depression ) and diameter of ; therefore , lengths of the various types varied . In addition to these medium guns ( intended to fend off an attack by up to six enemy light cruisers ) , smaller quick - firing guns were sited , in order to deal with the potential threat of fast , unarmoured torpedo boat s . At Fort Rodd , a separate emplacement , called Belmont Battery was constructed to house two Quick - Firing 12 - pr guns , which were assisted by two sets of " Defence Electric Lights " ( searchlights ) , which were powered by diesel engines and generators concealed in an engine room built into the landward side of a hill . For heavy , " counter - bombardment " defence , a battery of 9 . 2 - inch guns was built at Signal Hill , on the east side of Esquimalt harbour ; in the event , these guns did not become active until 1912 , and even then were rarely fired , as the concussion caused much damage to windows in Esquimalt village , directly below the battery . The Royal Marine Artillery garrison was supplanted in 1899 by a larger garrison of Royal Garrison Artillery personnel , along with a detachments of Royal Engineers , including one specially trained in submarine mining . The local Canadian artillery militia continued to receive instruction and practice in gunnery , and became very proficient , winning several national competitions . Annual training schemes brought both Imperial and Colonial troops into sham battles and exercises , including a full - scale night assault on Fort Rodd Hill and Esquimalt naval base in 1902 . 1918 – 1945 . By the time of the Second World War , the original guns were considered obsolete , and in 1944 , a new " Duplex " , or twin , gun system was installed . This twin - barreled gun fired shells weighing 6 pounds , in a steam of up to 72 shots a minute - all hand - loaded ! 1945 – 1962 . The fort was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1958 . Parks Canada Operation , 1962 - date . On 28 June 1985 Canada Post issued ' Fort Rodd Hill , B . C . ' one of the 20 stamps in the “ Forts Across Canada Series ” ( 1983 & 1985 ) . The stamps are perforated 12Â½ x 13 and were printed by Ashton - Potter Limited based on the designs by Rolf P . Harder .