View of harbour from South
SC 653648
Description View of harbour from South
Date 31/5/1997
Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu
Catalogue Number SC 653648
Category On-line Digital Images
Copy of D 17595 CN
Scope and Content 'Golden Wharf', 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 long quay is a World War II extension to an existing (World War I) quay, seen on the right. It forms the waterfront of a large landfill site which brought the quayside area well forward of the natural shoreline with excavated spoil from the tunnels for the underground tanks which were being dug in the nearby hillside. Completed in 1944, on account of the cost involved, it was nicknamed - and generally referred to as - the 'Golden Wharf'. The pyramidal-shaped concrete block in the right foreground is an anti-tank 'pimple' reused as a bollard at the inner angle of the quay. 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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