Detail of concrete block holders at S end of barrier.

Description Detail of concrete block holders at S end of barrier.

Date 24/8/1997

Catalogue Number D 21687 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 642703

Scope and Content 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. These twin-compartment, open wooden crates are the remains of box-type floats which, originally filled with concrete, were sealed and chained at intervals to the tops of the anti-submarine boom nets, both to keep them afloat and to stop them being dragged out of position by the strong tidal currents. Other types of smaller, round floats were also used. These have been piled up on the Burray foreshore at the south end of Churchill Barrier No 3. 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.

Medium Colour negative

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