Torreta de Guardamar (, ) or Torre de los Americanos is a tall guyed radio mast erected by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

near Guardamar del Segura,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

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

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

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 Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, and the tallest military structure in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Its base is situated above sea level at a distance of 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 (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or info ...

. 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 The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

, 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, it has no fixed frequency allocation by ITU 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