Accessibility

Font Size

100% 150% 200%

Background Colour

Default Contrast
Close Reset

Searchlight No.1 emplacement, view from North.

SC 673074

Description Searchlight No.1 emplacement, 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 673074

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 73236 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 side view of one of the two round-fronted World War II searchlight emplacements associated with Rerwick Head Battery. In contrast to such neat structures of shuttered concrete, here operational from 1941, many of the battery searchlights in the early phases of World War II were hurriedly improvised structures of turf, tin and sandbags, and without roofs. The chimney pipe served a small heating stove within. 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/673074

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap

People and Organisations

Events

Attribution & Licence Summary

Attribution: © Crown Copyright: HES

Licence Type: Full

You may: copy, display, store and make derivative works [eg documents] solely for licensed personal use at home or solely for licensed educational institution use by staff and students on a secure intranet.

Under these conditions: Display Attribution, No Commercial Use or Sale, No Public Distribution [eg by hand, email, web]

Full Terms & Conditions and Licence details

MyCanmore Text Contributions