View from S

Description View from S

Date 22/5/1996

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

Catalogue Number C 73285 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 652619

Scope and Content NAAFI and recreation centre, 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, 16 above-ground oil storage tanks and, beneath the nearby hill of Wee Fea, six very large underground fuel tanks which were capable of storing some 100,000 tons of oil. This view across Ore Bay shows, on the opposite shore, the large group of buildings which made up the wartime NAAFI and recreation centre, and, in the distance, a now-isolated building which was formerly a squash court. The single-storeyed range of huts on the left of the NAAFI dates from a post-war phase of salvage operations. 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.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/482471