Engine house No.1, view from South West.

Description Engine house No.1, view from South West.

Date 24/5/1996

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

Catalogue Number SC 673068

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 73228 CN

Scope and Content World War II engine room, 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. Standing detached some distance from the other buildings, this engine room contained diesel generators which supplied electrical power for the gun battery and for the associated searchlights. It is of arched shuttered concrete construction with rubble-built end walls and roof ventilators which were designed to assist in the dispersal of diesel fumes. 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/673068

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap