| Napier of Magdala Battery | |
|---|---|
| 100-Ton Gun | |
| Rosia Bay, Gibraltar | |
 The 100-ton gun at Napier of Magdala Battery |
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 Location of Napier of Magdala Battery.
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| Type | Coastal battery |
| Coordinates | 36°07′22″N 5°21′15″W / 36.1227°N 5.3541°WCoordinates: 36°07′22″N 5°21′15″W / 36.1227°N 5.3541°W |
| Built by | British Government |
| Current condition |
Good |
| Current owner |
Government of Gibraltar |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
| Controlled by | Gibraltar |
| Garrison | Royal Gibraltar Regiment |
| Events | Calpe Conference (2002) |
 Rear view of the 100-ton gun |
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Napier of Magdala Battery is a coastal battery on the south-western cliffs of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, overlooking the Bay of Gibraltar. It also overlooks Rosia Bay, as does Parson's Lodge Battery.[1]
Contents |
History [edit]
In 1883 the British Government installed a single 100-ton RML 17.72 inch gun at the battery by Rosia Bay that they named Napier of Magdala Battery after Field Marshal Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, who had served as Governor of Gibraltar from 1876 to 1883.[2]
Earlier, in 1879, they had mounted another such gun in Gibraltar at Victoria Battery. These two batteries, together with two in Malta (Cambridge Battery and Fort Rinella), were a response to the Italians having, in 1873, built the battleship Duilio, which was to receive four Armstrong Guns of the same design. The British authorised the construction of Victoria and Napier of Magdala batteries in December 1878; they completed Victoria in 1879 and Napier of Magadala in 1883, at a total cost of the two together of £35,707. Because the British viewed the two batteries as part of the one large fortress that was the Rock of Gibraltar, the batteries lacked all-round protection and any close-in defences such as the dry moats with caponiers or counterscarp galleries that the British installed at Cambridge Battery and Fort Rinella, both of which were free-standing pentagonal forts.
The gun now at Napier of Magdala Battery originally armed Victoria Battery but the British moved it to Napier when the original gun there split during firing practice. The gun at Napier Battery received the nickname, "The Rockbuster".
During World War II, the British Army stationed a battery of four 3.7" quick-firing anti-aircraft guns at the site. These never fired a shot in anger, though in 1945 they almost fired upon an Iberia Airlines Junkers Ju 88 that had wandered into Gibraltar's airspace while on a flight from Málaga to Tetouan.[3]
The "Rockbuster" was last fired in 2002 (with a very small signaling charge) to mark the 2002 Calpe Conference between Gibraltar and Malta.
Gallery [edit]
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100 ton gun firing from Napier of Magdala Battery in the 1880s.
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A replica of the 100-ton gun's 17.72 inch projectile.
Notes [edit]
- ^ Finlayson (2006), p.34.
- ^ Moreman, T. R. (May 2008). "Robert Napier". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
- ^ Galliano (2003), p.76.
References [edit]
- Fa, Darren et al. (2006). The Fortifications of Gibraltar 1068-1945. Gibraltar Museum. p. 64. ISBN 9781846030161.
- Paco Galliano (2003). History of Galliano's Bank (1855 - 1987): The Smallest Bank in the World. Gibraltar: Gibraltar Books.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Napier of Magdala Battery |
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