 By 1871 a gun battery was in place on Henry Head and in 1881 a large "mass concrete" fort was under construction on Bare Island and was operational by 1890.In 1876 La Perouse headland was the site where the overseas underwater telegraphic cable emerged.The first makeshift facility of tents and huts was replaced in 1881 by a brick Cable Station sited centrally on the west of the headland overlooking Frenchman's Beach.