No.2 Gun emplacement and holdfast, view from North.

Description No.2 Gun emplacement and holdfast, view from North.

Date 24/5/1996

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

Catalogue Number SC 673023

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 73214 CN

Scope and Content World War II gun emplacement and holdfast, 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. In the foreground of this view is the concrete holdfast and bolt ring on which was mounted one of the first two guns installed on this site in early 1940. They were 4.7-inch quick fire guns which in April 1941 were transferred to Castle Battery on Shapinsay upon the installation of the six-inch guns from HMS Iron Duke. In the background is the canopied gun house for one of these six-inch naval guns. 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/673023

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap