Nos.1 and 2 Gun emplacements with crew shelter building, view from battery observation post to South.

Description Nos.1 and 2 Gun emplacements with crew shelter building, view from battery observation post to South.

Date 24/5/1996

Catalogue Number SC 600946

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 73216 CN

Scope and Content World War II gun emplacements, 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 view from the Battery Observation Post shows one of the two six-inch gun emplacements (right) with its attendant crew shelter (left). The front of the emplacement where the gun was mounted faces to the right and is surrounded by a low parapet wall. The gap between the gun house canopy and side walls creates a vent for the dispersal of gun smoke. Behind these buildings, facing out across Shapinsay Sound, can be seen the canopied roofs of the other gun emplacement and associated crew shelter. 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/600946

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap