Gibraltar Harbour

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Gibraltar Harbour

View of Gibraltar Harbour from the Upper Rock Nature Reserve
Location
Country Gibraltar
Location Eastern shores of the Bay of Gibraltar
Coordinates 36°08′55″N 5°21′55″W / 36.1485°N 5.3652°W / 36.1485; -5.3652
Statistics
Vessel arrivals Decrease 10,350 sea ships (2011)[1]
Website
www.gibraltarport.com

Gibraltar Harbour, also known as Port of Gibraltar, is a seaport in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It was a strategically important location during the Napoleonic Wars and after 1869 served as a supply point for ships travelling to India through the Suez Canal.[2]

History

View of Gibraltar Harbour from the Upper Town c. 1905

The harbour of Gibraltar was transformed as a result of the British Government's plans to ensure that the Royal Navy could not just defeat any other navy, but any two other navies combined. Both Gibraltar and Malta were to be made torpedo proof, and as a result the North and South Mole were extended and the Detached Mole was constructed. Three large dry docks were constructed and plans were available by 1894. Over 2,000 men were required and they had to be billeted in old ships which had not been required since convict labour was abandoned. The demand for stone and sand necessitated building the Admiralty Tunnel right through the Rock of Gibraltar.[3]

In 1903 Edward VII arrived to name the new No. 3 Dock of the new Gibraltar Harbour after himself.[3] Queen Alexandra arrived in HMY Victoria and Albert in 1906 and the Prince and Princess of Wales the following year to name dock number two and then one after themselves.[3]

Since 2009 the docks have been known as Gibdock.[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gibraltar Harbour.
  1. ↑ "Statistics – Ships Calling". gibraltarport.com. Port of Gibraltar. Retrieved 29 August 2012. 
  2. ↑ "An Outline of the Port Infrastructure". Port of Gibraltar Handbook 2010-11. Gibraltar Port Authority. 2011. p. 13. Retrieved 29 August 2012. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jackson, Sir William G. F. (1990). The rock of the Gibraltarians : a history of Gibraltar (2nd ed. ed.). Grendon: Gibraltar Books. p. 257-267. ISBN 0948466146. 
  4. ↑ Gibraltar Chronicle - Cammell Laird Gibraltar becomes 'Gibdock'
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