THE GREAT NAVAL WORKS AT GIBRALTAR.

Northland Age, Volume 2, Issue 41, 22 May 1906, Page 2

THE GREAT NAVAL WORKS AT GIBRALTAR.

We have lately h?ard much of Mo- j rocco, but the existing diplomatic bitulti io.i there is not often set down ! ing works in progress at Gibraltar, -.which will so enormously strengthen i that fortress as the Lock of the ; that other nations ; upon the Moroccan the i Straits upon which to attempt to J affix duplicate locks to the gateway So much of romance centres round the “Rock" that people are disposed to imagine it as something vastly , striking in appearance. It is certain- , 1/ picturesque, especially in outline and from certain selected points of • view, but by no means overwhelm- I ingly so. The writer, who has seen ! it under many conditions, would j liken it to a huge pile of broken l‘inetal." oblong and ragged topped, | . /and from the East. The heap, const .ting mainly of shales upon a' f limestone base, rests nearly due north and south, forming the east- | *rn side of the Bay of Gibraltar, j and projming, at Europa Point, .to the Straits. The new works are slightly over a mile from the Point. | on the bay side of the heap. The! question as to whether they should ♦ not abut tK>o» its Mediterranean ] face was last raised about three appointed to consider the subject, and. following its report, the Prime Minister stated that the great expenditure involved would not be justified by any gain in Imperial de- , fence were the project carried out. The Mediterranean side is better proE tected than the other side from i weather and possible enemies, but £; Rock there falls almost sheer to i j. the phore, and thp engineering diffii cuities involved would alone be tre- j

: ' Therefore it is to be hoped that j \ the harbour and docks now approaching completion on the bay proper will suffice for the present generation at least. These, however, have been i facilitated by the creation of a tunnel through *he Rock from side to side, by means of whith stone for the now works has been brought from quarries on the eastern face. Enormous quantities have been required : the extension of the soa century old—being alone half a mile long, largely in water fifty feet deep. Opposite to this Mole, at a distance of about 200 yards, another of almost equal length is being formed, whilst the "mouth" where the outer extremities of these two draw together is protected by a third, known officially as the Detatchcd Mole, but rather resembling a concrete island built up from the floor of the bay 70 feet beneath. The "foundation-stone" of this island. probably the largest ever laid, involved a clever feat of engineering. It was necessary to have something substantial to start upon, therefore a huge steel box, capable of holding dose upon 10,000 tons, was constructed at home and shipped in sections to Gibraltar, where it was reerected It was then towed to the ■pot where the "island” was to be cqmmenced, where it was sunk, and afterwards filled with concrete, which as it set, formed a gigantic single block as a basis for further construction. At the inner end of the New Mole are placed the Admiralty Rocks and Dockyard Of the former there are to be three of record size; the smallest of them being already completed. Two destroyers and two tugs have been high and dry within it At one time, and the first battleship to enter it was, very fitly, Uie King Edward VII., which, however, just managed to squeeze into its length of 450 feet. The other shoreconnected mole is to be used for commercial purposes, particularly coaling passing steamers, which will now be able to take in fuel alongside, instead of from hulks or lighters in the bay. This alteration will, it is hoped, bring back to the port the bunkering business it has lost. Passengers will also be able to land alongside ; a boon greatly to be desired as any one who has been victimised by Gibraltar boatmen can testify—sometimes they charged a sovereign for merely pulling a few hundrod yard* Along the foreshore of the. new< harbour over sixty acres of land has been reclaimed from the sea, practically, all of which will be oocupied tar aovanmamt buildings. It is th#

British taxpayers’ money upon these works that the buildings thus huddled together will be peculiarly exposed to a plunging fire, not only from Spain, but even from Africa. The point is one for experts, but, as regards the former risk, it may be mentioned that the Rock is now fortified with the heaviest known guns right up to its summit of about 1,200 feet, and these guns, themselves fully protected, would doubtless control any fire from the Spanish side. As to that from Africa, whilst it is true that modern weapons are capable of firing shot and shell across the Straits- there has, so far, been no instance in warfare of such firing proving effective ; nor, it may be added, does any precedent exist of one Continent bombarding another in the fashion this hypothesis involves. Meantime, happily, these great Gibraltar works are rather of diplomatic and engineering than of warlike interest; their importance in the former connections being indicated by the visits paid to them recently by the King and Queen,—"Weekly Telegraph."