Coastal battery of the British Army located in Gibraltar keeping watch of the entrance to the Mediterranean; 1941.

Guardian of the Mediterranean

4 inch Mk IX coast defense gun and crew; 1940.
Their role was to defeat enemy ships attacking the ships in a port, including warships, alongside or at anchor in the port. However, where guns covered narrows, such as the Dover Straits, the Straits of Gibraltar,  they also had a wider role of engaging enemy ships passing through the straits. Normally deployed in batteries of two or three guns, a few major ports had several batteries positioned miles apart.


Coast defense battery

Hawker Sea Hurricane aircraft are seen on the flight deck of HMS Indomitable, as she participates in Operation Pedestal, the largest convoy to reach and supply the besieged island of Malta in the Mediterranean; 10-12 August, 1942.