World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Date 16 July 2013
Event ID 962487
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/962487
The estuary of the River Tay was heavily defended from the early 20th century, through both First and Second World Wars.
A battery of two Quick Firing (QF) 4.7-inch guns (designed to tackle small fast-moving enemy torpedo boats) was established on the walls of Broughty Castle in 1902, along with three Defence Electric Lights (DELs - large searchlights intended to illuminate targets at night). These guns seem to have been replaced in 1904. The firing arcs of the 4.7-inch guns are marked on a War Office map dated October 1916 and the guns are included in a March 1921 Armament Table on a War Office map of the defences of Aberdeen and Dundee. It is not known when they were withdrawn. On a map drawn between 1901 and 1907 the armament of the battery includes a machine gun. The 4.7-inch guns would have been intended to operate with the larger, 6-inch, guns just to the east, on Castle Green.
The battery covers a controlled minefield laid across the river, which is about 1.4km across at this point. A War Office map suggests that the expected course of an enemy ship would have been about 600m from the battery.
The coast artillery gunnery school was moved from Leith to Broughty Castle in July 1909 and two subsequent War Office plans (dated 1916 and 1923) (The National Archives WO 78/5193; WO 78/5195; WO 78/5196). show the layout of the lecture rooms and other buildings of the school. Plans of the Castle dated October 1916 and September 1923 both show a 6-pdr QF gun emplacement a short distance to the north of the eastern 4.7-inch emplacement, and it is possible that this was for training. The 1923 plan notes that the DELs are retained for training purposes only.
The two emplacements, with fittings and constructional details survive in a generally complete condition.
Information from HS/RCAHMS World War One Audit Project (GJB) 16 July 2013.
