Description
The monument comprises a World War II coastal defence battery sited on the western side of Calback Ness, facing Gluss Isle and Bardister Ness, and with commanding views over the important deep-water anchorage of Sullom Voe.
The battery was established during the early stages of the conflict. It was armed with two 4 inch guns taken from the Ness of Sound coastal battery in August 1940, when the latter was being re-armed with 6 inch guns. The guns were removed in 1944.
The remains consist of:
1. A Battery Observation Post. This two storey concrete structure is partly dug into the hillside and is situated above the gun emplacements and the searchlight positions. Internally there is evidence for a fireplace and the concrete stand for the position finder is still extant.
The building has an intact covered corridor, accessible directly from the lower level or via a set of external concrete steps. The corridor connects the observation post with the gun emplacements. Like all the structures, the flat roof of the observation post is covered with turf, part of the original camouflage scheme.
2. Two Gun Emplacements. These concrete structures still retain the gun holdfasts and the concrete ammunition recesses. Behind the gun emplacements, partly dug into the hillside, are the gun detachment shelters, complete with main and secondary entrances and fireplaces. Within these shelters contemporary graffiti includes pin-ups and caricatures of Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler.
3. Magazines. For each gun emplacement there are a pair of subterranean rooms, accessed from a covered corridor. This arrangement allowed the cartridges and shells to be contained as separate items, which were brought together only at the gun itself, thus preventing accidental explosions. Some stencilling survives at the magazines.
4. Covered Corridors. The main elements of the battery - the observation post, the gun emplacements and the emergency/section observation post - are linked by a series of covered corridors. The corridors also lead to a number of storerooms and the magazines. They are constructed of cast concrete and corrugated iron (used for shuttering), and are turfed over for camouflage.
5. Searchlight Positions. Each gun had its own searchlight low down towards the shore. The emplacements are constructed in concrete and have an overhanging roof, rectangular searchlight area and a small bunker to the rear. Both are built partly into the hillside and are reached by a flight of concrete steps.
6. Engine Rooms. The battery was serviced by two engine rooms, each providing power to a gun emplacement and a searchlight.
7. Emergency/Section Observation Post. Set above the No. 2 gun emplacement is a concrete structure with a corrugated roof, containing a single large vision slot, which probably served as a secondary observation post.
8. Local Air Defence was provided by a 3 inch UP (unrotated projectile), as indicated by the presence of a single launcher base near the battery observation post.
The area to be scheduled includes all the elements of the battery mentioned above, together with an area around them in which related remains may be expected to survive. The area to be scheduled has maximum dimensions of 280m NNE-SSW by 145m transversely. In addition there are two separate areas covering the searchlight positions, each a circle 22m in diameter. The three areas are indicated in red on the accompanying map.