World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Date 31 October 2013
Event ID 966156
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/966156
Inchkeith was the key fortress in the defence of the Forth and was fortified from the 16th century. Modern fortification was commenced in 1879, when four 10-inch Rifled Muzzle Loading guns were mounted in three forts, at the west (No. 1), the north (No. 2) and the south (2 guns - No. 3 Fort). A letter code was introduced in 1900 for the batteries on the island: the codes were changed twice by 1918 and then replaced by another system prior to the Second World War, making description confusing. Below, the 1916 codes are used, with annotation where changed by 1918.
In 1891 the two guns at No. 1 and No. 2 Forts were replaced by two 6-inch Breech Loading guns. In 1892 the first 9.2-inch gun (a Mk I) was mounted in the southern part of the island (to become “B” Group). In 1893 two 4.7-inch Quick Fire guns were emplaced, north and south of the lighthouse (to become Groups “H” and “F” respectively by 1916; Group “H” became “L” by 1918).
In 1899-1900 the two remaining 10-inch guns, at the south end of the island, in Fort No. 3, were replaced by two 6-inch Mk VII BL guns(“A” Group).
In 1901 two 6-pdr QF Nordenfeldt guns were supplied to the island, and four 5-inch BL guns were supplied for training.
In 1902-3 the 4.7-inch gun south of the lighthouse (“F” Group) was replaced by a 9.2-inch Mk X gun and in 1903-4 the same was done for the 4.7-inch gun north of the lighthouse (“H” Group, later called “L” Group). The first 9.2-inch that had been put in place, in 1892, was replaced with a Mk X gun over 1905-7
In 1903-4 the remaining single 6-inch gun at Fort No. 2 was removed to make way for two 6-inch guns in new emplacements (“M” Group).
In 1906 the four 6-inch guns in the two batteries at north and south ends of the island “M” and “A” Groups) were struck off the approved armament of the island, but retained until 1909 for training. In 1914 the approved armament of the island was the three 9.2-inch guns and the four defensive machine-guns.
In April 1915 the approved armament of the island was increased by four 6-inch guns, which were placed in the existing emplacements at north and south of the island (“M” and “A” Groups respectively). One from Group “M” was moved in 1916 to an existing 6-inch emplacement at the west (at first called “H” Group but later renamed “L”. Two further 6-inch guns were added to the island’s defences in 1916, in newly-built emplacements, as part of the battery called “H”, later named “L”.
The coast defence batteries of Britain were so vital to the country that it was important that they were not put out of action by the enemy, in advance of a naval attack. Many batteries were therefore provided with close defence.
Inchkeith was provided with a full suite of defensive structures and close-defence armament, starting well before the First World War.
First, there were nine blockhouses, what in the Second World War would be called pillboxes, distributed round the perimeter of the island. These first appear on a War Office map dated August 1941 but are of a First World War design recorded at Torry Battery in Aberdeen and at Portkil Battery on the Clyde, and are very likely to be of First World War construction. [RCAHMS record numbers NT28SE 5.15 to 5.23 inclusive].
Second, about 20 trenches (recorded on the 2nd edition map of the island) were dug to provide cover for defenders firing rifles onto any attackers. The Fort Record Book contains a sketch-map of the island, dated 1907, showing not only many of the fire trenches, but also extensive barbed wire entanglements covering beaches where the natural coast provided an inadequate obstruction. Two separate barbed wire enclosures protected, first, the northernmost 9.2-inch gun emplacement, and second, round the middle and southern 9.2-inch gun emplacements. The southern rock-cut trench of the Victorian fort at the south end of the island, and its caponier (a form of blockhouse ), were incorporated into the defensive scheme.
The island was provided with four .303” Maxim machine-guns for close defence in 1899, replacing four .45” Maxims. The positions of at least two Maxims are marked on the 1907 defence map.
Files at the The National Archives, Kew
WO 78/5158
WO 78/5159
WO 78/5161
WO 78/5162
WO 78/5168
WO 78/5180
WO 192/251 [Fort Record Book]
Information from HS/RCAHMS World War One Audit Project (GJB) 31 October 2013.
