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Click to view map Coordinates: | INTRODUCTION Searchlights were an essential component of the Coast Artillery's two Gun Batteries which were constructed on Robben Island during World War II. The Gun Batteries protected the seaward approach into Table Bay as well as the ships anchored in the Bay itself. Two searchlights provided night-time support to the Robben Island Battery and these were controlled from the Robben Island Battery Observation Post. The searchlights enabled night-time operation of the three principal 9,2-inch Guns and illuminated their fields of fire. Small scale buildings were designed to protect and camouflage each of the searchlight installations. No. 2 Searchlight Emplacement Building is one of four similar buildings on Robben Island and is situated directly to the south of the Searchlight Engine Room, in close proximity to the shoreline and a short distance to the southeast of No. 1 Searchlight Emplacement Building. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION No. 2 Searchlight Emplacement Building is small scale, single-storey, box-like, concrete structure with a flat concrete roof and semi-circular seaward front. The semi-circular front was originally provided with a curved, bi-parting steel plate shutter assembly - albeit that the shutters have almost entirely rusted away. Externally the base of the building - below the curved steel plate shutter - was formed with a facetted concrete plinth wall. A short circular concrete stub column was cast in-situ on the roof of the building - possibly by the SA Navy during their 'Operation Sea Eagle' project in the late 1980's. The witness marks of the original timber form are still clearly visible on the external face of the concrete stub column. The complex pair of three segmented, sliding and telescoping curved steel plate shutters were housed in an upper and lower set of three shallow, semi-circular metal channels. Each set of three channels was in turn mounted within a semi-circular rolled steel joist (RSJ). The lower RSJ was supported on a concrete stub wall, the upper RSJ was mounted below a shallow semi-circular down-stand beam under the flat concrete roof. The sliding and telescoping steel plate shutters had a wrought metal handle on each of the closing styles to manoeuvre each curved shutter into an open or closed position. When the steel plate shutters were all in an open position the searchlight had an unrestricted 180 degree traverse out to sea. Entry into No. 2 Searchlight Emplacement Building was via a double outward opening door (on the west side) made of steel plates, rivetted to a heavy welded angle iron frame, with each door leaf hung on heavy pintle hinges. A heavy-duty rotating bar and staple was used externally to secure the doors in a closed position. While affected by rust the doors are not as badly impacted on in comparison to the state of the sliding shutters. The Searchlight Emplacement Building would have been provided with a 60-inch (5 ft) carbon arc searchlight, powered with an electrical feed from the nearby Searchlight Engine Room. The searchlight itself was presumably removed when the military ceased to have a presence on the Island in 1960. Clear 'witness marks' visible on the interior walls of the building provide interesting evidence of the original layout of the searchlight control panels, conduiting, electrical switchgear and signage. These items were all presumably removed as memorabilia or by scrap metal scavengers in the intervening years. Remnants of painted camouflage patterns exist on the external face of the concrete walls - more particularly on the better protected landward side of the building. The reinforcing within the concrete walls has rusted in places and has caused localised spalling of the concrete on the exterior facades. HERITAGE VALUE The building's heritage value lies in its historical associations with World War II and as an architectural landmark on the coastline of Robben Island. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE No. 2 Searchlight Emplacement Building is closely associated with the defence of Table Bay (and Cape Town) during World War II (1939-45), and during the immediate post-war period when the Island was used as a military Training Base. The searchlight emplacement buildings protected and camouflaged the searchlights which enabled night operation of the three principle 9.2-inch Guns by illuminating their fields of fire. No. 2 Searchlight Emplacement Building is a good example of specialised coastal defence architecture. The curved seaward façade, the nominal roof overhang, the sliding steel shutters, and the in-situ off-shutter cast concrete finish all create a distinctive visual impact. No. 2 Searchlight Emplacement Building reinforces the character of the historically important WWII layer present on Robben Island. The building is comparable in the choice of materials and the robust detailing to the other concrete structures built for the military on Robben Island. CHARACTER DEFINING ELEMENTS The heritage character of No. 2 Searchlight Emplacement Building resides in the following character-defining elements: Its small scale one-storey, box-like, concrete construction, the witness marks of interior fittings (now removed), the top and bottom steel rails of the sliding shutters (the latter now rusted away), the steel plate doors and the vestiges of a painted camouflage pattern. William Martinson, Osmond Lange Architects, September 2019. Books that reference No. 2 Searchlight Emplacement Building
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