View from South

Description View from South

Date 29/5/1996

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

Catalogue Number C 73188

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 642591

Scope and Content World War I blockship and World War II Churchill Barrier No 3, East Weddel Sound, Burray-Glims Holm, Orkney Islands In both World Wars the main entrances into Scapa Flow were protected by a series of blockships and anti-submarine boom nets which were strung from shore to shore and were covered from landward by coast batteries. The four eastern channels into the Flow were especially vulnerable to seaborne attack, and after Kirk or Holm Sound had been penetrated by a German U-boat which sank HMS Royal Oak in October 1939, Churchill authorised the building of permanent barriers which bear his name. Begun in 1940, the Churchill Barriers broke the surfaces of the channels in 1943 and were finally opened as causeways for civilian use in 1945 at the end of the war. This view of East Weddel Sound from the Burray shore shows the remains of one of the surviving World War I blockships, the rear or aft section of the Reginald which was sunk in 1915, and in the background Churchill Barrier No 3 linking Burray and Glims Holm (in the distance). Like all the barriers, it is built on rubble stone foundations contained in mesh bags or bolsters and overlaid with 10-ton and 5-ton concrete blocks, the top layer being laid in what was described as 'pell-mell fashion' to break the force of the waves. Modern posts and rails mark the outer edge of the road across the barrier. 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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