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Searchlight No.2 emplacement, view from South West showing concrete steps to entrance.
SC 673073
Description Searchlight No.2 emplacement, view from South West showing concrete steps to entrance.
Date 24/5/1996
Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu
Catalogue Number SC 673073
Category On-line Digital Images
Copy of C 73234 CN
Scope and Content World War II searchlight, 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. This is a view of one of the two searchlights or fighting light emplacements associated with Rerwick Head Battery. Such structures were positioned in series in front of the coast batteries so that they could sweep the surface of the water. One of the two standard types associated with coast batteries in Orkney has a broad, rounded front, as seen here. The searchlight mechanism and lens were set within the building, behind a metal shield made up of a number of sliding steel shutters, and were powered by electricity generated in the engine room. The ducts for the electricity cables can be seen in the rear (left) wall of the structure. 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/673073
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