The Spanish warship can be heard in a recording of a radio exchange demanding ships at Gibraltar “leave Spanish territorial waters”.
A spokesman for Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar said:
“Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar is verifying every aspect of the incident in order to ensure that appropriate action is taking as soon as possible.
Gibraltar VTS ensured that the vessels in question did not act in consequence of the illegal Spanish instructions.
Sometimes I really do wonder if I am living in the last year of the second decade of the twenty first century…
Spanish patrol boat tries to order ships out of Gibraltar waters – Gibraltar Chronicle https://t.co/3urcRAtGdq
— Fabian Picardo (@FabianPicardo) February 17, 2019
There is only nuisance value to these foolish games being played by those who don’t accept unimpeachable British sovereignty over the waters around Gibraltar as recognised by the whole world under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
It seems there are still some in the Spanish Navy who think they can flout international law. This probably accounts for the state of extremism of some parts of the Spanish political spectrum these days.”
@GibChronicle @brian_in_gib More concerning… is that the weapons on the Spanish ship were uncovered and manned…. that is very serious @NavyLookout @RoyalNavy pic.twitter.com/SW6zUcTs0j
— David Parody ?? (@dparody) February 17, 2019
According to local media, the crew of the Spanish patrol boat Tornado can be heard in a recording of a radio exchange telling the vessels to “leave Spanish territorial waters”, even though they were anchored well inside British waters.
Good morning!
Fun and games again.
Let them get on with it, changes nothing.
Well said. There is nothing to be gained by reacting to this nonsense.
Agreed. Embarrassing for Spain one would have thought.
sow a minefield!
It’s time the government got tough on these immature acts by the Spanish navy. If left unchecked, they will grow in confidence and regularity. Time to have some boats and aircraft with a bit more teeth to act as a deterrent? Imagine an Apache hovering over the rock with hellfire missiles locked on every time they act like a four year old.
Either that, or we go juvenile as well. Monty python style- a hundred military personnel line the harbour and moon at the Spanish ship, whilst cows and chickens are hurled at it?
Either of those two ideas sound good to me. I have watched Apavhes hovering over the Lea Valley reservoirs targeting traffic on the road while no doubt measuring targeting accuracy from sun reflections off the the wide expance of water and they certainly put a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach so I dread to think what they would do to the constitution of the average Spanish sailor.
its time the poor old sabre and scimitar were able to retire, they’ve done their bit since the 1970’s i was on sabre in 1977 on gun sbs/r.m insertion running taskings.
We should keep a frigate or something stronger there board and capture a Spanish vessel and make them pay to get it back for the time and money it cost to deal with it.
Surely now is the time to use Gibraltar as a proper military base. The Royal Navy is getting a number of new OPV’s, and retaining three of the current four we have. Base one of the new ships in Gibraltar along with a garrison of upto 200 marines/paras, a squadron of the older Apache helicopters as they become available and some armour. Then see if the cowards enter our waters again.
Park QE and a full battle group at Gib for a few weeks. Have a few astute class patrolling around visible on the surface. Just demonstrate the overwhelming firepower we could bring to bear. See what the Spanish do then.
Why bother? It is what certain elements of the political class in Madrid want so why fan their flames? Best to treat it with the disdain it deserves.
Great NATO ally aren’t they.
To be fair in reality their contribution to NATO is pathetic.
childish and pathetic, take away their beaches, and they’ve nothing in the world but a status in line with india and pakistan. a nothing nation going nowhere, ignore them the oxygen of publicity
They will do nothing. Then recommence when the RN leave.
That also makes Britain look like the aggressor and escalates more.
If any action is needed always as daft as them, simply to highlight the farce of the whole thing. I believe the Captain had already volunteered…. 🙂
I’m Poised with my Balls In my Hands.
LOL!!
RGR, Yes and no mate, on this site, the Joke now appears much further down the list than It did when posted earlier. Daniele’s reply was shortly after my “Game of Bowls” post. (This Post was in reply to the reaction of what to do about the Spanish Provocation ). It refers to the Spanish Armada and Sir Francis Drake playing Bowls on the Hoe. Having my Balls In both Hands Is a sort of Humorous Reply that might have been slightly funny at the time but probably not now !!!! Hope This helps explain all you want to know… Read more »
Fair enough. Whatever happened to the paint balling gun idea? Using permanent paint that is. Would be great to see a Spanish navy vessel covered in “peaceful luminous pink paint”
That alternative idea I suggested weeks ago was part serious, part fooling around as an alternative to escalating such as deploying military force.
See my comment above.
No one wants a confrontation with a European ally. If they want to play games diffuse it by making it into a huge joke, which to Spain it is most certainly not.
Yes, it would be hillarious.
Or, ignore and move on. Anything but serious escalation.
I think it is funnier that we chase them off with an inflatable… Using anything large will simply inflame the issue and also give more credit to their efforts. They are a bunch of idiots and we should treat them as such.
RIB. Lets up the ante then. Rowboat? Canoes? Are Oxford and Cambridge free?
I think we should be using drone lilos.
Would that be classed as a Float ila ?
lol
Hahaha now why did I read that as drone dildos the first time ???????
*Batman* Robin! Pass me the Anti-Spaniard spray!
It’s 1,800 incursions like this a year, which is about 5 a day. We need teathered buoys with chains between them. Also a few decent patrol boats, say 100 tons a piece, fast and manouverable with toughened hulls and rubber bumps all round. Perhaps a 30mm and a couple of remote MiniGuns as well. We need to be much tougher on our stance.
Remember Argentina behaved like this before 1982 and look where that ended up.
Yes as you say, the Argentinians pushed the matter to see the reaction; when there was none they invaded. As far as I’m aware the F&CO have yet to do anything apart from the above statement or did TM say to house of commons ‘walk away nothing to see?’
lay a minefield and charge people to be guided through it. while we own gibraltar, it could be a toll gate, charging billions for ships to pass it. nice little earner.
fit a squadron of archers with the 20mm canons they were designed to carry, and double the size of the gib squadron
full battle group? are we borrowing ships? we don’t have enough to protect the birkenhead ferry.
The UK government MUST react properly and not turn blind eye and deaf ear. Full protest on this escapade and future ones, which there will be. We must learn from history, successive UK government ignored Argentine incursions on the Falkland Islands , and look what happened.
We should start going to the two North African Spanish enclaves and start declaring them British! Send in destroyers, frigates and nuclear submarines…. or just fine the Spanish for all incursions into British Gibraltar waters and rack up the money and demand it from them, or how about embarrassing the Spanish on the world stage to stop the bullcrap.
base a t23 at gibraltar in d rename it h.m.s gibraltar the spanish would go into meltdown!! get british travel companies from dealing with spain, watch the spanish economy crumble and larf
Time for a game of Bowls !!!!
Time to singe the King of Spain’s beard!
Get the worlds biggest projector and display the Union Jack on the rock…it wasn’t us guv, honest!
Aaah.
You see. You have a ruthlessness.
You’re hired!
You want this…….don’t you!
You do, but that was a Star wars quote….You missed it?
worked last itme
We need to start sinking Spanish ships that use our waters.
Remind me where a good portion of our Ajax are being built?
South Wales. Ajax may be based off a Spanish/Austrian design but 80% of each vehicle is built by General Dynamics in the UK.
Or we could all stop going on our holidays to Spain and that would damage their economy.Agree with the Apaches. A little restrained show of force.
Hi folks, yes here we go again. What is their issue? To show how mature we are, we should just ignored the imature acts.
Maybe the UK can place a financial costing and take off the amount from the £39B we may pay the EU upon leaving, then that will rattle them.
All the best,
George
George mate the £39 billion is only payable if there is an exit agreement, which at the moment there is not. Saint Teresa’s deal is a bad deal. Likely to sign our sovereignty over to the EU and tie us to their red tape heavy rules in a customs union forever. Remember none of us voted to join the currently structured EU, we did however vote to leave. The Spanish can push things as far as they like the outcome will be that they will lose regardless. The last Spanish speaking people to undermine and underestimate us (the Argies) lost… Read more »
A funny thing, all those years of deeper and deeper involvement with the EU yet no major party made it an issue as there were no votes in it until the press stirred it up with siren calls of immigration.
Today Honda announce their departure and we see the automotive industry going back to the 80s and collapsing around our ears. The price of leaving the EU will be painful and regressive and we will all pay for it. Apart from the very wealthy of course.
“the press stirred it up” Some. Many others support unmanaged migration. You talk as if all read the DM. “no major party made it an issue” Lib Dems or Labour are for it so they won’t will they? Tory euro sceptics have always been there. Who else is there? The varied EU treaties have been passed into law by the serving government using the Royal Prerogative, not voted on in Parliament. Weirdly enough an article of those same treaties now needs Parliamentary oversight! Oh the irony. “Today Honda announce their departure” And is that to do with Brexit? Nope. “The… Read more »
Yes Julian….it is a complete coincidence that car manufacturing in the UK is ending at the same time that our Country blunders towards an uncertain future. Fact is, those that see a bright future in uncertainty also have absolutely no idea how this might be achieved (where are Boris, Mogg et al now)! The acid test is who would want to invest in our country post-Brexit? With Brexit glasses on you can see the shimmering hoards ready to descend with offers…time to wipe the crap off the lenses I think!
Julian. The head of Honda Europe has already come out and said this has nothing to do with Brexit. Honda has recently announced the closure of their plant in Turkey too. Care to explain how this is related to Brexit? The reasons for anyone who can be bothered to listen, are the huge drop in demand for diesels in the wake of the VW scandal and greater understanding of the environmental impacts. The rapid uptake of EVs which they didn’t expect to happen so quickly… Then there’s small matter of the EU-japan trade deal which removes import tariffs on cars… Read more »
Just in case the point wasn’t clear, the EU has thrown thousands of EU car workers, producing cars in Japanese plants, under the bus so the German manufacturers, BE, Mercedes and the VAG group can sell more cars in Japan.
Top work.
Hmmm…I’m convinced. I will now vote Brexit in the 2nd referendum. Sorry only joking, about voting Brexit that is!
Come on, you believe that? That’s more to do with politics
I assume that any 0% tariff on cars between the EU and Japan would also apply to Jaguar/Land Rover sales? Sounds like a good deal. Given that the Swindon works have been under some sort of threat for years, it is no surprise that Honda have chosen to quit now. I think that to suggest that Brexit is not an issue, is somewhat erroneous. The European director of Nissan claimed that it was a contributing factor in their decision not to build X-Trail in the UK.
Honda found reasons to invest elsewhere no matter how they present it. They are walking away from a long term commitment and interest with the loss of 10,000+ jobs. Now view it through your tinted spectacles if you like but UK is now deemed less attractive to invest in.
For all those that swallowed the ‘Brexit not guilty’ argument, automotive industry expert Professor David Bailey of Aston University remarks: “Honda came to the UK because it offered a launchpad into the single market. There’s a lot of bewilderment in Japan about Brexit because what we offered them has been taken away. “We’re not upholding our side of the deal so they don’t need to either. There may have been more of a chance of the UK being a centre of electric vehicle production if we stayed in the single market and if we had a more supportive industrial stategy.”… Read more »
Oh Julian, once again I ask could you please explain how Brexit is the cause of Honda’s decision to close it’s plant in Turkey? Remembering of course that Turkey has access to the single market. The reasons Honda has given for the closure are perfectly logical, huge reduction in demand for diesels, huge increase in demand for EV which they manufacture elsewhere, EU-Japan trade deal meaning zero import tariffs from Japan, yet you’ll keep banging your head against the wall moaning about Brexit. The EU-Japan free trade deal has far more to do with the closure than Brexit does. Why… Read more »
@ Herodotus You’ve undermined your own arguments here… “Given that the Swindon works have been under some sort of threat for years, it is no surprise that Honda have chosen to quit now.” So you acknowledge that this has been on the cards for “years”… We voted to leave the EU 2.5 years ago. “The European director of Nissan claimed that it was a contributing factor in their decision not to build X-Trail in the UK.” Nissan is a different case, what with it being intimately aligned to the interests of Renault, which coincidentally are intimately aligned with the interests… Read more »
Yes, Swindon has been under threat for some years, but the Japanese business community is based very much on trust. What Bailey is saying is that if we had honoured our side of bargain, remained in the single market, then Honda would have stayed with Swindon…perhaps even developing electric cars there. Does it not strike you as important that the experts on the economics of Brexit think that it is a fool’s errand. Economic/financial experts in academia and industry, captains of industry, managers of small and medium sized businesses, most MPs all think that Brexit is disastrous. Why would you… Read more »
Which part of “the EU themselves have removed the very incentive to build cars in Europe that you mention by engaging in the free trade deal.” Are you having trouble understanding? Brexit or not, any responsible foreign company would have made this decision once the import tariffs had been removed. It’s simply good business for them. It’s why Honda is also closing it’s plant in Turkey. It no longer needs to manufacture cars or motorcycles in Europe in order to access the European Market tariff free. The ONLY Honda facilities to remain in Europe post 2021 will both be in… Read more »
Not much surprise there really. So you understand the economic situation better than the experts…wow. You understand the car industry better than a world expert. Don’t exactly suffer from self-doubt do you. Be careful with your hubris!
“Not much surprise there really. So you understand the economic situation better than the experts…wow. You understand the car industry better than a world expert. Don’t exactly suffer from self-doubt do you. Be careful with your hubris!”
A similar response when poor RGR made his points back to you on the Tornado thread recently….
You sound rattled.
There is nothing poor about RGR…he is more than capable of defending himself and making insulting remarks about the elderly and minority groups in our society…in case you hadn’t noticed? ChrisJ has come up with some excellent arguments that I have a lot of respect for. However, claiming that the experts that are against Brexit are sycophants/cuckolds of the EU is errant tribalism and an unworthy denial of their experience and integrity. Really let himself down there. Enjoy the rest of the evening.
Do I understand the situation better than every “expert” out there? No, almost certainly not, but multiple engineering degrees, a first class masters in economics and a first class MBA do perhaps give me a bit more of a clue than the average ‘knuckle-dragging’ Brexiteer. Most of the experts coming out of the woodwork to declare this the sole fault of brexit in the likes of the Guardian and Independent have often enough already nailed their colours to the mast with such blatantly one-sided or blinkered arguments that I do rather think they are sycophants, willing to say pretty much… Read more »
Sorry, that had a lot more paragraphs in it when I copied it from word…
Apologies, there were a lot more paragraphs in that when I wrote it in Word. (can’t stand typing long replies into the reply box)
Nothing Changes…..60 years ago we ex Rock Apes ( now well retired British Squaddies permanently stationed on the Rock) would line up at Buena Vista ( ‘Good View’ in Spanish) Barracks to jeer at the might of the Spanish Navy in the form of a rusty old coal burning Vessel nicked named ‘Smoky Joe’ as it lurched and limped around and befouled the clean air in the Bay of Gibraltar, scaring the hell out of the Spanish fishermen who regularly fished quite close in to the Western shores of the Rock. They didn’t trouble the several dozen Warships (Proper ones,… Read more »
The Meteoro-class are an interesting design. Compare and contrast with B2 Rivers. A bit slow though……..
I was wondering what the vessel was. Cheaper I imagine?
Daniele, They are Heavier, slower but have a Bigger Gun. @ £160 Million each or there abouts. 6 in Total.
How dare they show up disporting their 76mm salchicha. Ought to be a law against it! Makes our river class effort look like a chipolata!
It’s not the size that matters, It’s how you Use It.
You said earlier that you ‘had your balls in your hand’ Capitano Ramirez would just like say that ‘he needs both hands…Gringo’.
Good fodder for Spearfish or our F35B firing stormshadow or Brimstone. Easy pray.
Bloody hell there’s no point in making a war out of this Mr Bell.
Best pray for easy prey!
George has made a very good point. Price up the rate for sending a P2000 and or a Gib Police boat to deal with this stupidity, and send the bill to Madrid or Brussels. It will only be a small proportion of the £39bn, (or whatever the final figure may be), but it will concentrate minds. It might also mean that the Spaniards could stop playing silly b’s and spend a bit more time and fuel supporting NATO. They are supposed to be our allies?
Is it a frigate or an OPV…either way, it looks the business and somewhat more impressive than the heap scrap they sent last time!
The fact that they manned weapons is somewhat concerning. The blatant disregard the Spanish are already displaying for international is one thing, but actually preparing to fire?
Rename the last R2 to HMS Gibraltar and station her there. An escalation for sure, but not as aggressive and wasteful as an escort. Would probably be good for morale as well, a nice Mediterranean cruise with occasional opportunity to about at the Spanish, it’s practically a holiday.
Looks a handy little ship. May even be worth having the Royal Marines board it next time these Spanish fools try this
Definitely! Would love to see a couple of ORCs fully laden with Marines in full boarding kit including ladders.
Just to be clear…I don’t advocate boarding…would just be a good photo op 🙂
Hmmmm, glad the comments on this page are less enthusiastic than last time. It really is silly behaviour on the part of the Spanish. I find it interesting how the tonnage of naval vessels has increased since WW2. An OPV of nearly 2,500 tons would have been the equivalent of a WW2 destroyer!
People need to keep in mind there is a Spanish election coming up and the Spanish navy is as Left / Right politicised as any and probably more so. Also the uk wants a deal with the eu and the eu and a getting fed up with Spain. So if a response must happen a quick incursion into Spanish waters or airspace is the most required. Mostly best to ignore them.
Daniele; you’re wrong. We can hardly be portrayed as the aggressor here. If somebody keeps p***ing in your front garden you do something about it. A NATO ally? Give over!
In a sensible world. This is not a sensible world and media would have a field day.
I believe a poor farmer did something about it when thieving pikes invaded his propety years back? He was arrested and jailed I recall.
I agree with the action he took. And I agree with you.
But we have to be realistic.
Sorry RGR. Sorry if I offended anyone too.
Or you could leave out some urinal salts, a hand basin and a fresh towel. Make them feel uncomfortable!
Or demand all the Spanish entering Gibraltar get out their cars and wash their hands before entering the territory.
Exactly. Diffuse by making the whole thing ludicrous.
If someone is winding another up and can see that it’s successful they continue. Either ignore or retaliate in kind making the Spanish look foolish.
I agree with Evan P further above. Spain has not invaded so it is not a war scenario.
If a country imposes a blockade it is an act of war. Fact. I agree this is not quite a blockade but it is a breach of international law nevertheless.
This can’t be ignored.
Just to be clear. This was what I was referring to over my comment that reacting too far makes Britain looks like the aggressor. From Mr Bell: “Park QE and a full battle group at Gib for a few weeks. Have a few astute class patrolling around visible on the surface. Just demonstrate the overwhelming firepower we could bring to bear. That is OTT for this whole situation, and just fans the flames, giving Spain full coverage of an issue important to them. By all means respond if the Rock is attacked or blockaded as 4thwatch says. But this is… Read more »
Wonder if NATO secretary general could write a newspaper piece along the lines.
“This is not the behaviour of allies, stop trying to involve Gibraltar in Spanish politics. If it continues the 3 Aegis destroyers based in Rota will move to Plymouth or better still based at Gibraltar.
claim cap trafalgar as british territory
lay a minefield and charge massive amounts to be led through by the gib squadron, base a t26 at gib and name it h.m.s gibraltar
There is a third option of eliciting the services of say a bulk carrier – nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
When someone, without the authority, orders you to do something I usually find the words F@ck Off work!
Or develop the torpedo ram ship idea. 1500-2000 tons. Heavy duty Rubber bumpers along the sides and a business ramming bow. Would need to be armed. Say 76mm gun, couple of ds30mm guns and a RAM + phalanx mount.
Lol! Love it.
They could be “volunteers” from the RNR…Or convicts!
And the drummer comes from RM Band Portsmouth!
With his white hat on.
or an astute
Gibraltar does not have its iwn waters. Read the treaty of Utrech
Im sure this has been discussed before, but why doesn’t the UK use Corvettes? Something like a Karakurt would be perfect for the rock. I understand that ship is not an option but there must be others designs available
Because we prefer to build River Batch 2 OPVs, twice the displacement of the Karakurt, but with less armament. Go figure.
we should buy the sigma 10514, same dimensions as a river with 20 more crew, yet comes with exocet twin triple tube torpedo launchers two quad anti air launchers and a 76mm gun. its only political willpower that stops it being done but better still we’ve 9 of them ALREADY BUILT
I Think HMS Rodney should have been permanently based there. With a sign saying “Private Property, Keep Out. Or Else “
I am not sure what an OPV would do.
In the Confines of the Territorial Waters, an Astute or Type 23 would be pretty much Overkill, A River Class would be Better by way of It’s Physical Presence but still a bit too big and unwieldy in all but open Water. A RIB would probably be Laughed at due to It’s Size (I know I would Semi Wet Myself, If a 2500 Ton Ship was being warned off by one), So I’d be happy to see a Fast Armed boat like the Safehaven Barracuda 19M but with a 30mm Gun Instead of the 12.7mm. 40 plus Knots and a… Read more »
Nah, they’d only cock it up!
Not If left alone to just get on with what the Country Wanted. !!!!!!
The Country….you mean the 37% of the total electorate! Still, a giant inflatable Boris might do the trick in Gib?
Priceless!
More effective than the giant inflatable Khan!
What, Barracuda?
Agree with forward basing in Gib, disagree with putting something there ‘just because’ of the incursions.
Make it a 30mm paintball un to keep old Gav’ happy while you’re at it.
Do you know how little sea room we are talking about? And how crowded it is?
Steve, Yes, Hence my Barracuda Post.
For the UK, Corvettes don’t make much sense. They are way over-armed (with all the associated expense including manning of complex weapons) and typically lack endurance and range for the roles/applications that the RN are responsible for. Corvette characteristics are fine for a short endurance coastal defence role which is where they seem to be used most. Gibraltar and the Spanish behaviour don’t justify anything beyond fast patrol patrol boats that primarily serve other policing roles. Consider that the Batch 2 OPV versus Karakurt has >2x endurance at 35 days , >2x the range at 10,000+ km, in a lightly… Read more »
Thank you for the reply Glass Half Full, the need for better endurance/range makes sense for your needs, where for us in the Baltic and Black sea it makes no difference. I am looking forward to seeing what the final design will be picked for the T31
don’t do it again or you’re on the naughty step
The quisling British government speaks: No incursion by Spanish during Gibraltar incident: UK PM May’s spokesman LONDON (Reuters) – There was no incursion by Spanish naval forces during an incident near Gibraltar at the weekend, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday. Gibraltar said that a Spanish warship tried to order commercial shipping to leave anchorages in British waters near Gibraltar on Sunday but was challenged by the British navy and sailed away. “There was no incursion on this occasion. We are certain of our sovereignty over the whole of Gibraltar, including British -Gibraltar territory waters,… Read more »
Aahhh the urinal salts approach again!
Quisling indeed. What a useless woman.
‘and any incursions are a violation of sovereignty, but not a threat to it’
Splendid statement from a spokesperson who probably received a decent background briefing from the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office is trying to avoid escalating the situation, pity the Spanish government isn’t so sanguine.
Can we have the option to add Gifs and memes please???
Id like to add the ‘Margaret Thatcher saying Sink it one while looking at I assume Henry Leach in the Iron Lady’
Oh no, don’t give pensioners the option to post memes that they think are funny!
At some point, the poor seamanship displayed by the Spanish Navy will come back to haunt them – they’ll either crash into the Rock or into a merchant vessel.
And guess who’ll go out to rescue them?
Idiots
I see the French are supplying Argentina with 4 OPV’s.
Repeat reply.
Easy fodder for Spearfish or F35B armed with stormshadow or Brimstone
the french would supply the taliban for a euro
Giving Spain the order for 600 Ajax vehicles does not seem to have generated much gratitude.
Runaway,runaway…..A Monty Python moment… All joking aside send a couple of frigates
They’re bored, probably more exciting than fire drills and damage control scenarios.
Maybe soon, they will realise just how unprofessional this type of behaviour is.
@ captain P Walsh
But I don’t think a faster something with a bigger is what is need either. 20mm and over you would face the danger of the projectile entering one side of the ship and passing clear through to end up who knows where……..Loosing of .50bmg or even 7.62 would be a bit risky too.
I would humbly suggest we need something with a very ‘solid’ hull but something quicker than a tug…….
Steve, I’ve got It, Lets stick a great big Cannon on the Top of the Rock then. (Not sure If It’s been thought of before ).
Yep, and some are still there. Check out the Grand Siege of Gibraltar (1779 – 1783). A new carriage for muzzle loaders was developed, that allowed the gun to point downwards at least -45 degrees from the horizontal. These were used to great effect along with “hot potato” shot against the combined French and Spanish besiegers. After the siege, these were replaced with 64 pounders that had a range of 4.5km. The siege was a decisive victory for the British and made Spain forever cede Gibraltar to us as part of the peace plan.
Cap’n, yep its been done before and some are still there in the mountain. Check our the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779 – 1783). During the siege a new carriage was designed for the muzzle loaders, so that they could point downwards by at least -45 degrees from the horizontal. These when using the “hot potato” shot devastated the combined French and Spanish forces. The siege was a resounding defeat for both France and Spain. As part of the peace terms, Spain ceded Gibraltar to us for perpetuity. The adhoc guns were replaced by dedicated 64 pounders that had the… Read more »
gosport ferry painted grey