Two new 9.2-inch guns were installed in 1906 in the western wing battery. They were mounted on barbettes, enabling them to recoil along their axis and so delivering a much faster rate of fire. One 9.2-inch and one 6-inch gun on a disappearing mounting remained in the eastern wing battery before being removed in 1907. During the war the fort was used as a Battery Command Post operating in conjunction with a Port War Signal Station located to the fort's east, which was responsible for monitoring all shipping entering or leaving the Thames. The remaining two 9.2-inch guns were removed in 1917 and reinstalled at Fletcher Battery, a newly built position on the Isle of Sheppey.