Black Arrow (model)

A model of the Black Arrow missile and the Prospero satellite at the Needles New Battery, Isle of Wight, 3 July 2007.

The New Battery was completed in 1895 to replace the 1863 Old Battery which was suffering from subsidence. It’s function was to defend the Solent from enemy ships attempting to attack Portsmouth Naval Base. In 1900-03 the New Battery was armed with three 9.2” guns until 1954 when the Battery was de-activated. In WWI two freighters were sunk off the Needles despite the presence of the guns. It was also used for very early trials of anti-aircraft guns. In WWII it was strengthened and fitted with many AA guns which fought off repeated German air attacks whilst the 9.2” guns fought off German torpedo boats (light destroyers) which attempted a night landing.

After the Battery was deactivated as a defensive fortification, it was used from 1957 as a top secret testing station by Saunders-Roe (Saro) for their successful Black Knight test missile/ICBM and Black Arrow satellite-launching rocket. The latter eventually successfully performed Britain’s only launch (from Woomera) of a British satellite before cancellation in 1971 because it would be cheaper to use American Scout rockets, NASA having offered free use to the British Government. In the event, as soon as the Black Arrow programme was cancelled, NASA withdrew their offer.

Photograph by Hugh Llewelyn uploaded on Flickr under a Creative Commons CC_BY-SA-2.0 free license.

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