Scanned image of view of interior of gun emplacement showing steps

Description Scanned image of view of interior of gun emplacement showing steps

Date 26/5/1996

Catalogue Number SC 673958

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 73006

Scope and Content Gun house interior, 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 of the interior of the gun house of one of the two World War II six-inch guns shows a concrete-built bridge which leads from a rear access passage to the radial platform which served as the gun position. It spans a sunken way which is reached by the steps and contains a series of ready use ammunition lockers built into the outer face of the platform. The steel post-and-beam support system for the canopied roof is clearly visible. 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/673958

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap