Royal Air Force Hope Cove or more simply RAF Hope Cove is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

station. It is located about south west of

Salcombe Salcombe is a popular resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area o ...

on the south

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

coast,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, co-located with the former RAF Bolt Head airstrip, which was the RAF closed in 1945 but remains in service for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

to this day. Hope Cove was originally built in 1941 to host an

AMES Type 7 The AMES Type 7, also known as the Final GCI, was a ground-based radar system introduced during World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Type 7 was the first truly modern radar used by the Allies, providing a 360 degree view of the airspace a ...

ground control interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was p ...

(GCI) station. In the 1950s it joined the

ROTOR Rotor may refer to: Science and technology Engineering * Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator *Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...

network and was upgraded with an

AMES Type 80 The AMES Type 80, sometimes known by its development rainbow code Green Garlic, was a powerful early warning (EW) and ground-controlled interception (GCI) radar developed by the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) and built by Decca f ...

radar. It was one of six Type 80 stations that featured a R6 bunker, which was semi-sunken. When the GCI role was moved to the new Master Radar Stations, the bunker was made redundant and taken over by the Home Office as a regional seat of government (RSG) bunker. Plans to move this station to

Norton Manor Camp Norton Manor Camp, also known RM Norton Manor is a Royal Marines base located near Norton Fitzwarren, north west of Taunton, Somerset, in England. It is home to 40 Commando. In 2016, the government announced that Norton Manor Camp would be clo ...

were never carried out, and it remained in use as a RSG (although the name change on occasion) until 1994 with the ending of the Cold War. The bunker is currently a Grade II Listed Building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope Cove Royal Air Force stations in Devon Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Radar stations