Archive Of The Month, July 2010
AccNo. 1500

Notice to Mariners – Kirkwall – Public Traffic Regulations by Order of the Naval Officer in Charge, Kirkwall, Orkneys.

This is a new accession which is part of a large collection of booklets and documents deposited by the Director of Harbours in December 2009. This is such an interesting little booklet, as it describes precisely to vessel owners the complicated procedures involved in what to do and what not to do in Kirkwall Harbour during World War II.

It is interesting to see the lengths the Admiralty went to in order to maintain security, e.g. "all lanterns are to be fitted with screens arranged so as to cut off the light at an angle of 20 degrees above the horizontal" and "small craft moving at night without lights will be treated as hostile" and "disobedience will render a Merchant vessel liable to be fired on".

Lucy Gibbon
Assistant Archivist
03/07/2010