World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Date 23 September 2013
Event ID 964604
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/964604
The final decision to make Scapa Flow the main base for the Grand Fleet in the event of war (over the Invergordon dockyard in the Firth of Cromarty) was made only on the eve of war. As a consequence, in August 1914, the anchorage was undefended. It was only in mid-1915 that the anchorage was secured by guns, anti-submarine booms and blockships. In the end there were 13 batteries around the approaches to Scapa Flow.
The three Ness batteries, near Stromness, protected the NW entrance to Scapa Flow, Hoy Sound. The strong currents in Hoy Sound prevented the deployment of anti-submarine nets.
Ness Battery No.2 was equipped with two 6-inch breech-loading guns in open emplacements. The guns were manned by Royal Marine gunners. 6-inch guns were intended to engage medium-sized enemy ships, such as cruisers, but not battleships. Ness Battery No. 2 was also the site of Western Fire Command, which co-ordinated the fire of the batteries on the NW approaches to Scapa Flow.
In the Second World War this was the only one of the Ness batteries to be rebuilt on the same site. A large, modern battery, for two 6-inch guns, with overhead cover, was built. The emplacements of the First World War battery are still visible, in front of and below the later emplacements.
Information from HS/RCAHMS World War One Audit Project (GJB) 23 September 2013.
