Boiler room, interior. Detail of front end of Lancashire boiler

Description Boiler room, interior. Detail of front end of Lancashire boiler

Date 4/10/1996

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

Catalogue Number D 3136

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 656639

Scope and Content Boiler, boiler room, pumping station, World War I and II Naval Base, Lyness, Hoy, Orkney Islands At Lyness on Hoy, close to the sounds which made up the main fleet anchorage, naval quarters, stores and an oil depot were established during World War I and were considerably developed in World War II to become the Base Headquarters, HMS Proserpine. The base came to include an extensive area for the repair of anti-submarine boom nets, above-ground oil storage tanks and, beneath the nearby hill of Wee Fea, six very large underground fuel tanks. The solitary surviving above-ground tank at Lyness was one of four of 12,000-ton capacity built in 1917 when oil-fired warships were coming into regular service with the Royal Navy. In 1937-8, with another war looming, Messrs Balfour, Beatty & Co Ltd were contracted by the Admiralty to build 12 additional, slightly larger, 15,000-ton tanks, bringing the total complement of above-ground tanks to 16. The associated pumping station, which also dates from 1917, drew the heavy fuel oil from tankers at the pier. Originally coal-fired, the steam pumps were converted to diesel power in 1936, and pumping station and tank together now form the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre. This is a detail of the front end of one of three boilers in the boiler room. The stoking holes reflect the fact that, as originally installed in 1917, the boilers were coal-fired, but they were converted to oil firing in 1936. Admiralty standards meant that all three boilers were equipped with features such as illuminated water glass/gauges, two pressure gauges per boiler, and marine-type safety valves fitted near the boiler fronts. 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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