Scanned image of view of gun emplacement from South

Description Scanned image of view of gun emplacement from South

Date 26/5/1996

Catalogue Number SC 673945

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 66988 CN

Scope and Content World War II six-inch gun emplacement, Hoxa Battery, Hoxa Head, South Ronaldsay, Orkney Islands In both World Wars coast batteries were built to protect the channels into Scapa Flow and Kirkwall Bay, where there was an important contraband control. The greatest concentrations of firepower were at the main north-western and southern entrances to the Flow, the latter covered by the coast batteries on Stanger Head on Flotta and here on Hoxa Head on South Ronaldsay. This view shows the open front of one of the two World War II six-inch gun emplacements with the crew shelter for the second gun in the background to the right. The gun itself, which was removed after the war, was mounted in a deep pit in front of the arc-shaped canopy and behind the scarped embankment in the foreground. Canopies were intended to provide protection from aerial attack and the hard outline of the concrete structures were generally covered in turf, stone and mesh camouflage. 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/673945

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap