GIBRALTER AND ITS DEFENCES.
Major-General A.B. Tullocli, writing in the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, on Gibraltcr, says that grand old rock, which has stood 14 sieges and been in the possession of Great Britain for nearly 200 years, has lately become of even greater value to England than it was when it underwent the last siege of nearly four years, the closing scene of which was the repulse of 47 of the enemy's line-of-battlcships, the destruction of ten of their specially constructed floating batteries, and the silencing of the besiegers heavy guns on the land side ; and this by a garrison on ' the verge of starvation, and with but 96 guns available for defence. Owing to political changes and the increased size of the fleet, another naval base besides Malta is absolutely necessary for us in the Mediterranean, and the possession of Gibraltar, at the mouth of the Straits, and midway between England and Malta answers the requirement exactly. The only drawback, however, is that owing to the increased and increasing range of modern guns, the whole of the horseshoe shaped bay,' of which the rocks form one side, and which is only five or six miles across, may be covered by the fire of guns from the Spanish m ainland,
Ships lying alongside the breakwater and moles -would be safe enough and the docks would not come to much harm, were it not that a range of high ground on the north side of the bay, of -which the highest point, I,oooft, known as the Queen of Spain's Chair, oi miles distant from the docks, looks into the whole of the new works ; while the cast and west spurs of the range coming down to the sea would give possibly slightly closer gun positions. It will be at once asked, How was it that the west, or Spanish side, of the rock was chosen for the dock, and not the cast, which has only the open sea in front of it? Unfortunately, that side is also open to and within range of the eastern slopes of the spurs of the ridge of hills already mentioned ; there is no foreshore there suitable for reclamation on which to build machine shops, slips, and such like ; the rock on that side comes steeply down to the water's edge, and the whole of the works and breakwater would have to be built oiit in deep water; and last, but not least, eastern gales, having the whole sweep of the Mediterranean, send in a very heavy sea .on that side, from which the western bay, with its extensive anchorage, is free. With the engineering talent and appliances of the present day, the works uow under construction might have bee n made on the cast side of the rock, additional expense would have been immense ; and, balancing the respective advantages of both sides, an inspection of the sites at once shows that the naval and military authorities were right in making the new harbour and docks on the west.
00. the present defences of Gibraltar it will not do to say more than can be seen by anyone walking along the public road and in the beautiful, well cared for Aluineda gardens. As the heavily plated casemate batteries along the Hoe wall and in the gardens could not be used with the ships in the new harbor right in front of them, and 18 and 38 ton M.L. guns have been removed and sent homo, or otherwise disposed of. The new batteries are all half-way up the rock, and even on the top of it ; they are with the newest type of heavy breech-loaders and very heavy howitzers, making the old rock more unassailable than ever. Possibly the armament may be increased by guns in cupolas on the round extremities of the moles and breakwater. The old gallaries to the north and north-west front are ready-made casements for howitzers, to keep down fire, from sheltered guns on the high ground already mentioned, which enfilade's the sea front; Ships of the Devastation ciass, with an unlimited supply of ammunition close at baud, might also assist in this by going round to the east of the.rock, and taking the high ground in flank. "When the tremendous fire which could be brought to bear from new pattern howitzers in the upper gallaries, 600 and 700 feet above the ground and along the crost line, 1000 to 1300 feet high, of the north front, one and a half miles in advance of the dockyard, is considered, the danger which at first sight seems to menace the new harbour from the Queen of Spain's Chair practically disappears.
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Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 18 June 1901, Page 4
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780GIBRALTER AND ITS DEFENCES. Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 18 June 1901, Page 4
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