 Early plans for the fort 's armament were drawn up by Harding Stewart of the British War Office . They called for four 9 in ( 230 mm ) 12 long tons ( 12 t ) rifled muzzle @-@ loading ( RML ) guns , two mounted in turrets and two behind vertical iron shields . This configuration of siege artillery had not been tried before and the plan was abandoned due to the large expected cost . Two of the 9 in guns had been in South Australia since c.1868 after a Colonial Government request , but were not used in the eventual fort design . The final Jervois / Scratchley design omitted the turret and iron shields . 64 @-@ pounder RML guns were substituted for two of the 9 in guns and 10 in 20 ton RML guns for the remaining two . The 20 ton guns were chosen over the then standard 18 ton gun by Jervois after he saw the plans in England , the decision influenced by the then fully committed nature of the Royal Arsenal . Jervois had originally ordered the 18 ton guns but cancelled the order and changed to the Armstrong 20 ton when the arsenal was unable fulfil the order . He also ordered Armstrong 's mechanical loading and protected barbette system for the 20 ton guns . This original battery of four heavy guns remains in place at the fort . 
