Bawdsey R3 Rotor Bunker
A nice quiet stroll to finish off the year with another 28 member who's so quiet I've forgot his user name! Nothing much to say so I'll skip onto the history bit;
The site of Bawdsey radar station built in the early 1950s as part of the Rotor programme to modernise the United Kingdom's radar defences. This was a replacement station for the Chain Home station at Bawdsey (see HOB UID 1309533), located to the south of this site. The Rotor station was fitted with a Type 7 Mark 3 radar head for local search and control, two Type 14 (Mark 8 and Mark 9) plan positioning radar heads, four Type 13 Mark 6 and two Type 13 Mark 7 height finder radar heads, and three Type 54 Mark 3 radar heads for search and control with no IFF (Identification Friend or Foe). The radar heads were mounted on plinths and 25 feet gantries, apart from the Type 54 arrays that were mounted on 200 feet towers. The site was equipped with a guardhouse designed to resemble a bungalow, which gave access to a two-storey, underground R3 operations block. The R3 bunker was completed in 1954. Newly developed Type 80 radar and its associated modulator building was installed in 1958, with two AN/FPS 6 height finding radars. By 1963 Bawdsey had become a Master Radar Station, but in June 1964 it switched to operating as a satellite station to RAF Neatishead. It resumed Master Radar Station status in 1966 until 1974, after a fire damaged Neatishead's control centre. Bawdsey closed in 1975 and in 1977 features of the Rotor station were demolished, including plinths, towers and the Type 80 modulator building. In 1979 Bawdsey reopened as a Bloodhound Mk2 surface to air (SAM) missile site (see HOB UID 1309161). The guardhouse also remains in derelict condition, and is still attached to the R3 bunker via an access tunnel. The R3 bunker is disused and has been sealed shut.
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Thanks for looking
The site of Bawdsey radar station built in the early 1950s as part of the Rotor programme to modernise the United Kingdom's radar defences. This was a replacement station for the Chain Home station at Bawdsey (see HOB UID 1309533), located to the south of this site. The Rotor station was fitted with a Type 7 Mark 3 radar head for local search and control, two Type 14 (Mark 8 and Mark 9) plan positioning radar heads, four Type 13 Mark 6 and two Type 13 Mark 7 height finder radar heads, and three Type 54 Mark 3 radar heads for search and control with no IFF (Identification Friend or Foe). The radar heads were mounted on plinths and 25 feet gantries, apart from the Type 54 arrays that were mounted on 200 feet towers. The site was equipped with a guardhouse designed to resemble a bungalow, which gave access to a two-storey, underground R3 operations block. The R3 bunker was completed in 1954. Newly developed Type 80 radar and its associated modulator building was installed in 1958, with two AN/FPS 6 height finding radars. By 1963 Bawdsey had become a Master Radar Station, but in June 1964 it switched to operating as a satellite station to RAF Neatishead. It resumed Master Radar Station status in 1966 until 1974, after a fire damaged Neatishead's control centre. Bawdsey closed in 1975 and in 1977 features of the Rotor station were demolished, including plinths, towers and the Type 80 modulator building. In 1979 Bawdsey reopened as a Bloodhound Mk2 surface to air (SAM) missile site (see HOB UID 1309161). The guardhouse also remains in derelict condition, and is still attached to the R3 bunker via an access tunnel. The R3 bunker is disused and has been sealed shut.
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Thanks for looking
