Coastal artillery battery above Gibraltar, overlooking Bay of Gibraltar escarpment.
Devil's Gap Battery is a coastal artillery battery in Gibraltar, on the escarpment above the city at about 130 metres above sea level. Part of the Fortifications of Gibraltar, it overlooks the Bay of Gibraltar near the Upper Rock Nature Reserve’s western edge and is partially open to the public.
Devil's Gap Battery is a coastal artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Also known in Spanish as Punta del Diablo, it stands on the escarpment above the city, looking out across the Bay of Gibraltar near the westernmost limits of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, at a height of about 130 metres above sea level. The battery forms part of the Fortifications of Gibraltar. During the Great Siege of Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783 it mounted at least one mortar, possibly more. In the late nineteenth century it carried RML 9 inch 12 ton guns and later QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval Mark I guns. In the early twentieth century two BL 6 inch Mk VII naval guns on central pivot Mark II mountings, with a range of about 5,500 metres, were installed, with associated magazines and shelters. In August 1917 one of the guns fired on and sank a German submarine near Algeciras, the only action seen by Gibraltar’s coastal defences during World War I. The guns were manned during the Spanish Civil War and fired a bring‑to shot during World War II. The 6‑inch guns remain in position. The site, mostly derelict, is owned by the Government of Gibraltar, controlled by the Gibraltar Heritage Trust and maintained by volunteers. It is a Class A listed building and partially open to the public.
