The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H3246

Culver Battery is a former

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

Culver Down Culver Down is a chalk downland, down to the north of Sandown, Isle of Wight. It is believed that its name derives from "Culfre", which is Old English for dove. The down has a typical chalk downland wildlife on the uncultivated areas (generally ...

, on the eastern side of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, England. The fortification is one of several

Palmerston Forts The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the ...

built on the island following concerns about the size and strength of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

in the late 19th century. It was operational during the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s. The battery was closed in 1956.

Planning

A battery on the eastern cliff of Culver Down was first proposed in 1887. Its purpose was to stop enemy ships firing

unopposed An uncontested election is an election in which the winning candidate did not face a serious challenger. This often entails the number of candidates being the same as or fewer than the number of places available for election, meaning that all cand ...

at the pre-existing batteries at

Yaverland Yaverland is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sandown, on the Isle of Wight, England. It is just north of Sandown on Sandown Bay. It has about 200 houses. About of a mile away from the village is the Yaverland Manor an ...

and Redcliff. The new fortification would be armed with three 6-inch breechloaders with two

QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss The Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1885 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. Many variant ...

in support. The guns would all be fitted on hydraulically operated disappearing mounts. However, by 1889, even though the battery had still not been built, the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

had decided the Hotchkiss would be replaced with 4.7-inch guns. The delay in construction was caused by a disagreement at the War Office between the

Inspector-General of Fortifications The Chief Royal Engineer (CRE) is the official head of the Corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army. Origin and development Before the English Restoration a Chief Engineer was a pay grade and not defined. In 1660 King Charles II appointed Si ...

and the Director of Artillery over the installation of disappearing mounts. Objections were raised over their necessity because Culver Down is atop a cliff, above the shoreline. The row led to further delay as the funding for the military project was no longer available.

Construction

The battery was eventually built between 3 May 1904 and 21 July 1906. The two main gun emplacements, which were built from brick and

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

, each had a fixed

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...

that housed a 9.2-inch Mk X gun. A report in 1906 by the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

stated: Due to the purpose of the battery being to deter naval attack, its two 9.2-inch guns were not intended to cover

Sandown Bay Sandown Bay is a broad open bay which stretches for much of the length of the Isle of Wight's southeastern coast. It extends from Culver Down, near Yaverland in the northeast of the Island, to just south of Shanklin, near the village of Luc ...

. But they could fire as far as

Spithead Spithead is an eastern area of the Solent and a roadstead for vessels off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast, with the Isle of Wight lying to the south-west. Spithead and the ch ...

, bombarding any enemy ship entering

The Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whic ...

. Its command post was in the same building as the Port War Signal Station, which was located between the battery and Bembridge Fort to the north.

First World War

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the battery's main role was to defend the Isle of Wight's torpedo boats' anchorage against long-range fire from armoured

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

s. Under war-time conditions, the battery had toilets, wash block, mess, and general storerooms as well as a workshop and telephone room. When not on duty, guns crews lived in the barracks at Bembridge Fort. Ammunition was kept in bombardment-proof underground magazines behind the emplacements. Additional shells and

cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...

were stored at Bembridge. In addition to the two coastal guns, the battery had a 6-pound Hotchkiss that was used as an anti-aircraft weapon.

Inter-war period

Between 1922 and 1924 the battery's barbettes were replaced with new mountings that allowed the guns to elevate up to 30 degrees, increasing the effective range beyond . In 1927, Culver was used as the test centre for the Fortress Plotting system, a type of experimental corrected firing for

. In 1934 three 6-inch B.L. mark VII guns were temporarily fitted on 45-degree mountings for long range gunnery trials. An experimental twin-6 pounder was installed to test

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

in the mid-1930s.

Second World War

By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Culver Down was manned by 118th Battery from the 527th Coast Regiment. The battery's two main guns now had ranges of up to , meaning they could assist

Nodes Point In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a Vertex (graph theory), vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics *Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two ...

to prevent long-range bombardments of

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...

. By 1942, as the fear of German invasion waned, the battery was stood down from full-time night alerts. In 1943, a Coastal Defence(CD)/Chain Home Low(CHL) radar station was erected just to the east of Culver Battery.

Post-war and decommissioning

In 1947 two BL 6 inch Mk 23 naval guns were erected in front of the 9.2-inch coastal guns for high-angle shooting tests. Two heavy-calibre 3.7-inch AA guns were also used for coast artillery practice. In 1956, the battery was decommissioned by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. After the guns, the fire control centre, storerooms and domestic quarters were completely removed, the site was covered with earth. However, in 1966, the gun emplacements were re-excavated to make them more accessible. The battery is now a viewing point and public picnic area owned and operated by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

References

Publications

External links

Aerial images of Culver Battery (c.1939)

Victorian Forts data sheet
{{Palmerston Forts on the Isle of Wight Forts on the Isle of Wight Palmerston Forts Military installations established in 1906 Artillery battery fortifications in the United Kingdom Bembridge 1906 establishments in England