world war 2

Marine Archaeology Paper to be Presented at CIFA Conference

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Rysa Little Site. SS085: Bridge Cabin Structure. Copyright: UHI Archaeology Institute

Mark Littlewood, Geomatics Officer Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology, will be presenting his paper – Protecting Accessible Marine Tourism Sites: The Case of Scapa Flow – at the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists conference which is being held at Newcastle University on 19th-21st April 2017.

Marks abstract continues….Scapa Flow is one of a number of marine anchorages which possesses a rich palimpsest of twentieth-century shipwrecks. Since the signing of the Armistice on the 11th November 1918, the interned ships of the High Seas Fleet were viewed within the perspective of the military knowledge that they could impart to the Allied powers, a factor that played a key role in the scuttling of the fleet. Following their scuttling the German High Seas Fleet and also the lesser known block ships that protected Scapa Flow during the First and Second World Wars then became a source of direct revenue as they were then subject to partial or full salvage activities.

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Rysa Little Site SS069: Searchlight Control Platform. Copyright: UHI Archaeology Institute.

This paper will examine how attitudes to these wrecks have changed over the years; how the development of marine tourism has both benefited the preservation and investigation of these wrecks, but also poses new challenges. More particularly this paper will compare the palimpsest of Scapa Flow to other similar sites around the world that have undergone salvage activities. Are the wrecks of Scapa Flow perceived differently than other massed wreck sites around the world? Are they seen as more accessible and more well-known and are the levels of protection, both present and proposed, for Scapa Flow necessary or adequate?

The paper will go on to highlight the level of further investigation and dissemination required to protect and make accessible such maritime sites and how the experience protecting wreck sites in Scapa Flow could be applied worldwide.

Thanks to Bob Anderson for underwater photography.

The Ness Battery, Hoy Sound, Orkney

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Gun emplacement
Surviving WW2 Mess Hall
View across Hoy Sound
The Command Centre

Orkney is well known for prehistoric archaeology and indeed maritime remains from both world wars. Perhaps less well known are the WWI and WWII heritage sites that still exist on land.

Situated on Hoy Sound, Ness Battery guarded the western entrance to the naval base of Scapa Flow, Orkney. The site itself comprised several gun emplacements, searchlight positions, AA gun positions and a huge command centre which had the task of halting any hostile move through the Hoy Sound.

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The impressive Ness Battery was the subject of a visit by our students last week. Guided through the complex by Andy Hollinrake, the students were given the full history of the site including stories of the personnel that worked to guard the Royal Navy warships anchored in Scapa Flow.

Andy related how each ship that appeared on the western approaches to Hoy Sound were signalled and ordered to stop and await inspection before sailing into the naval base. On one occasion the ferry from the Scottish mainland failed to stop when hailed and so was treated to a salvo of fire from the guns in the battery. The skipper soon heeded the signal, turned round and headed back to the mainland. Andy further elaborated on the story by saying that the gun loaders were so well trained that they could fire at such a rate that 3 or 4 shells could be in the air at once!

IMG_3896The huge, concrete protected gun positions were impressive in themselves, but in a way, the surviving huts (the only surviving examples of coast battery huts present in Britain) were even more impressive as they allowed us to glimpse into the lives of the men who operated this site. The Mess Hall was extraordinary as its walls were covered with an amazing mural depicting English rural life-complete with a windmill, half-timbered houses, wooded lanes and even a gypsy encampment.

A brilliant field visit and our thanks go to Andy Hollinrake for his on-site lecture and tour!

For more information on the Ness battery see http://www.nessbattery.co.uk/

New Maritime Archaeology Course

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MAC ROV small ad

The University of the Highlands and Islands and Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) are offering a two day Nautical Archaeology Society course in the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles in maritime archaeology. The course is structured to contribute to a persons own career / professional development and at the same time contribute to the monitoring of wartime remains in Scapa Flow.

  • NAS MAC ROV surveying
  • 2 day course
  • 14th and 15th May 2016
  • Location: Kirkwall and Stromness, Orkney
  • Cost £249

For more infromation :

  • Phone: 01856 569223
  • email: studyarchaeology@uhi.ac.uk

 

 

Wrecks of experimental ships discovered in Scapa Flow

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ATCPP being towed into position. National Archive
ATCPP off Flotta.
Anti torpedo close protection pontoons in action. King George V class battleship. National Archive.

Historic Environment Scotland commissioned ORCA and SULA Diving to conduct side scan sonar and archaeological diving surveys in 2015 of two wrecked vessels located off Flotta Island, Orkney, N.Scotland.

The vessels were first brought to the attention of the authors by Hazel Weaver of the MV Valkyrie after they were dived by Rob Baxandall.

Archival research indicates these are the remains of Anti-Torpedo Close Protection Pontoons (ATCPP), an experimental protection device used for close protection of naval vessels at anchor in Scapa Flow from attack by aircraft-launch torpedoes. The pontoons were only in operation in Scapa Flow for 13 months (March 1941 – April 1942) and few were brought into service.

As such they represent a rare, frequently mis-identified heritage resource, for which very little is known about their operation. Had the site not been reported, a unique heritage asset would have been overlooked and the identity of similar vessels would have remained unconfirmed.

Many thanks to Hazel Weaver and Rob Baxandall for their help and co-operation.

Also don`t forget to visit the Secrest of the Sea exhibition in Orkney Museum in Kirkwall if you are in Orkney…..http://wp.me/p6YR8M-f1

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Relics of War

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Abstract from Mark Littlewood and Dr. Annalisa Christie`s recent paper : The large natural anchorage of Scapa Flow has played an important strategic role as the main northern naval base for Britain in both World Wars. As a result the seabed and surrounding coast is littered with wreckage and debris associated with the wartime defences and the vessels that were part of the conflicts.

The submerged remains of wartime vessels from both World Wars have been the focus of several …Historic Scotland funded projects to confirm the identity and assess the extent, character and condition of these sites. Targeted vessels, sites, their debris fields and their surrounding seabed contexts were surveyed with side scan sonar then ground truthed by diver or drop camera to elucidate the condition of the remains.

The paper presents the outcomes of these recent surveys to demonstrate the diversity of submerged cultural wartime heritage in Orkney – from the remains of German battleships of the First World War, to experimental anti-torpedo close protection vessels of the Second World War and from crashed aircraft sites to extensive fields of boom defence debris. These will be explored examining how material culture and historic documents can be used to portray the personal narratives of the military personnel who would have interacted with them from the period.
https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/archaeology-institute