Fort Victoria (Sconce Point Battery) was built between 1852 and 1855 and was designed to mount smooth bore guns. The original armament was ten 68-pdr SB guns on the Western face and eleven SB shell guns on the Northern face. There were six 32-pdr SB gun mounted on the roof.
In 1861 the armament was upgraded to mount three 7-inch RBL guns. The 10-inch Sb shell guns were reduced to ten pieces and the 68-pdrs remained unchanged. The number of 32-pdrs on the upper floors was doubled to twelve. There were proposals to arm the fort with thirteen 64-pdr RML guns but this was never followed through.
By 1872 the Fort was becoming redundant and the Royal Engineers converted it to a Submarine Mine Station.
In 1888 a trial see-saw searchlight was built just outside the fort. This was supported by three additional searchlights between 1898 and 1899 for minefield protection.