View of specimen gun emplacement from south

Description View of specimen gun emplacement from south

Catalogue Number SC 665166

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 17923

Scope and Content Converted gun pit, Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Rysa Lodge, Hoy, Orkney Islands In World War II the famous Scapa anti-aircraft 'box barrage' was made up of 25 Heavy Anti-Aircraft batteries, supported by numerous Light Anti-Aircraft posts and rocket sites, all manned by the Army. Heavy Anti-Aircraft artillery could fire 3.7- or 4.5-inch (98- and 113-mm) calibre shells to heights of over 30,000 feet (9,144m), while smaller, faster-firing Light Anti-Aircraft guns such as the 40mm-calibre Bofors had an effective ceiling of about 5,000 feet (1,524m). Barrage balloons, an RAF responsibility, were extensively used as a deterrent against low-level enemy air attacks, the steel tethering wire being capable of cutting into and bringing down an aircraft. This roofed structure is one of the four battery gun pits which have been converted into modern sheep shelters. The gun would have been mounted in the centre of this area, roughly under the later roof apex, and was surrounded by a series of ammunition lockers, the backs of which make up most of the continuous walling. Rysa was one of the two earliest Heavy Anti-Aircraft Batteries to be built in Orkney and is of a more compact overall layout and more solid construction than those which were hurriedly put up later in 1939 and 1940. 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/665166

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap