"South Channel Fort is one of seven fully defensible forts and numerous batteries which were constructed in the last quarter of the 19th Century by the Australian colony of Victoria to protect Melbourne, its capital. It is often forgotten that these forts formed part of a comprehensive scheme of naval and military defence and the importance attached to it can be gauged by the size of the Victorian defence force. In 1887 the forts were supplemented and manned by a Victorian military force of 5, 792 men and by a Victorian navy of 16 vessels, crewed by 590 men at a time when the total male population was about 600,000."