Battery observation post, detail of ' depression range-finder'.

Description Battery observation post, detail of ' depression range-finder'.

Date 24/5/1996

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number C 73226

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 673067

Scope and Content World War II depression range-finder, Battery Observation Post, Rerwick Head Battery, Mainland, Orkney Islands In both World Wars coast batteries were built to protect the channels into Scapa Flow, the greatest concentrations of firepower being at the main north-western and southern entrances to the Flow. In World War II there were also seven coast batteries on the east coast of Orkney Mainland protecting the approaches to Kirkwall Bay, which served as an examination anchorage where foreign shipping was impounded and searched for contraband. These batteries formed the Kirkwall Fire Command centred on Rerwick Head Battery, which also included a shore station for a controlled minefield in Shapinsay Sound. This is the concrete pedestal on which was mounted a depression range-finder, an instrument used to calculate the distance and bearing of potential targets at which the battery guns would be directed. At the heart of the Orkney archipelago, Scapa Flow was the main fleet anchorage for the Royal Navy during both World Wars. Its vital importance led to the creation of one of the most concentrated defence networks in Britain. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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