Torreta de Guardamar (, ) or Torre de los Americanos is a 380-metre tall guyed radio mast erected by the US Navy near

Guardamar del Segura Guardamar del Segura () or briefly Guardamar is a municipality of the province of Alicante located at the mouth of the river Segura in southern Valencia (autonomous community), Spain. It is a Mediterranean resort, with a large pine forest abutting ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. It was built in 1962 and is the tallest architectural structure in both the

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and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, and the tallest military structure in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Its base is situated 64 metres above sea level at a distance of 1.4 km from the sea.

Details

Torreta de Guardamar is a mast radiator insulated from earth, and is used to transmit orders to submerged

submarines A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

. It is made as a lattice structure with triangular cross section. In spite of its enormous height, it is low in relation to the wavelength of the waves it transmits. Its capacity is augmented by multiple cables connected to its top and running to anchors around the mast. These cables are electrically connected to the mast and are divided at a certain distance by insulators. The transmitter using Torreta de Guardamar as antenna had been, since its inauguration, remotely controlled by the US Naval Communication Station in Rota. Then it was transferred to the Spanish Navy, and is used for transmitting orders to submerged submarines stationed in Cartagena during their operations. As opposed to other VLF transmitters such as the DHO38 in

Rhauderfehn Rhauderfehn is a municipality in the Leer district, in Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, wi ...

, it has no fixed frequency allocation by

ITU The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union ...

and carries no callsign. This installation is currently guarded by Spanish Marine Infantry, and is marked as "Radio Estación Naval - Antena LF 380 metros - Guardamar", with the facilities being listed officially as "Estación Radio de Guardamar del Segura".

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torreta De Guardamar Towers in Spain Radio masts and towers in Europe Towers completed in 1962