In our latest video we take a look at the massive 15 Inch Coastal Guns that protect the port of Mahon in Menorca. The guns, built by the British Vickers company, could fire an 860kg shell up to 35km.
The battery of two 15 or 381mm guns was added to the Fortalesa Isabel II’s emplacements in the early 1930s and were in active service for nearly 80 years. For more information on their history and design, check out the video and full in-depth blog here.
Below are some photographs I took of the battery and its ancillary support buildings. While researching I also found a couple of great contemporary photos.
A view of the 15 Inch Vickers Gun from the rear (Matthew Moss)A view of the front of the gun turret’s housing, while not thick enough to withstand a direct hit the turret would protect against shrapnel (Matthew Moss)A view of the front of the gun, note the small hatch in the front of the gun housing, this would have been the gun aimer’s postion (Matthew Moss)The sliding hatch and crane used to bring up cordite charges when the gun was in action. (Matthew Moss)A view of the rear of one of four supporting 6 Inch Vickers guns (Matthew Moss)The battery’s support buildings: Stores, offices, barrack blocks(Matthew Moss)The Battery’s other 15 Inch Gun on the other side of the old quarry that houses the battery’s support buildings (Matthew MossThe left side of the turret, not the ladder for roof access (Matthew Moss)
A facebook group for those who served at Fortales Isabel II has a number of brilliant contemporary photographs of the guns:
These photographs show the guns being transported by a specially laid, segmented rail track in the early 1932s, the first shows the guns at the dockside with another showing it being moved through a busy street.
The group also has some contemporary photographs of the gun emplacements including the rangefinder and the inside of the gun housing:
The gun aimer’s position with communications to the rangefinder bunkers near by:
The group also has some excellent recent photos of the restored interior of the gun turret the magazine below. The first photos show the magazine and system for bringing the 860kg shells up from the projectile store:
Sign reads: ‘Ordinary projectiles will only be used with reduced load‘
Great shot of the various tracks, winches and lifts used to get the massive shells up to the turret:
Interior shot of the turret with a shell ready to be winched onto the loading tray and loaded into the breech:
View of the gun aimer’s positions complete with shining brass speaking tubes and controls:
Last summer I was lucky enough to visit the vast Fortalesa Isabel II which defended the port of Mahon, in Menorca. One of the fort’s most impressive sights is its huge 15 inch gun battery.
The Spanish island of Menorca, in the Balearic Islands, has a long and storied military history. The strategically important harbour of Mahon was historically the envy of the British, Spanish and French and was the reason for Fortalesa Isabel II’s construction. The for was the last major fortification built on the island, with the Spanish military beginning construction in 1850. A second phase of major improvements was made during 1853-1864. Work to improve and modernise the fort continued into the 20th century.
The ornate main gate of the fort, defended by a counterguard and rifle slits either side of the gate (Matthew Moss)
The Fortress is built on a beautiful rocky headland of La Mola at the mouth of the harbour and covers about a square kilometre. Construction was a massive undertaking and took over twenty years to complete, costing over nine million pesetas. The fortifications are some of the Mediterranean’s most impressive of the period.
The fort is a maze of tunnels, galleries, casements and buildings surrounded by a deep, dry moat. The fort’s first line of defence consisted of a moat 9 metres (30 feet) deep covered by rifle loop holes for infantrymen and embrasures for artillery. Interlocking fields of fire defend the landward approach to the fort’s main entrance, the Queen’s Gate.
Map showing the layout of the fort during the 19th century before the 15 inch guns were added (source)
Designed to dominate the entrance to the harbour the fortress was intended to hold 160 artillery pieces of various sizes, including Krupp guns and howitzers, many of these protected by strong stone casements. The fort’s armaments evolved overtime from muzzle-loaders to faster firing breech-loaders.
The Spanish continued to upgrade the fort’s guns over the decades mounting rifled guns and howitzers of various calibres ranging from 15cm to 30.5cm. In addition to the fort’s guns the defences also included mines in the harbour mouth and later a battery of shore launched torpedoes.
By the early 20th century the fort’s guns were increasingly obsolete against the backdrop of the naval revolution that saw Dreadnoughts come to dominate maritime warfare. With advances in naval architecture, armour and guns the Spanish government decided to purchase a number of massive 15 inch naval guns that could fire a 1,895 lb (860kg) shell up to 22 miles.
One of the fort’s two 15 inch Vickers guns in position on Cape Espero (Matthew Moss)
Spain purchased 18 of these massive guns made by the British Vickers company, they had originally been designed for the cancelled Brazilian battleship Riachuelo. In Spanish service the guns were officially designated the Costa de 38.1cm Modelo 1926. During the 1930s the new coastal guns were installed on both the Spanish mainland and Menorca. Two guns placed in the Castillitos Battery, defending Cartagena, opened fire on a Spanish Nationalist fleet, during the dying days of the Spanish Civil War. While Menorca’s guns never fired a shot in anger, they acted as a deterrent.
The first guns reached Mahon in 1932, with a second arriving in 1936, these were mounted on the cliffs of Cape Espero on the La Mola peninsular. The guns were so huge they had to be transported to the fort on a specially built railway pulled by hand and traction engine. These formidable new guns brought Fortalesa Isabel II’s armament up to date, enabling it to protect Mahon from any modern warship.
One of the massive 15 inch guns being pulled along its special track by a traction engine through the streets of Mahon (source)
The 15 inch (or 381mm) Vickers battery at the fort was positioned 70m above sea level and commanded the entrance to the harbour. Six guns were eventually sent to Menorca with two placed on La Mola, two more installed in a battery at Favaritx (the remains of which can be seen here) in the north of the island and a pair at a battery near Llucalari in the south of the island.
While the guns at Favaritx were later removed, the guns at Llucalari remain. The fact that six of these massive and expensive naval guns were placed on Menorca shows its strategic value during the period.
Satellite photo showing Menorca’s other 15 inch battery at Llucalari (google maps)
The guns were mounted in barbettes which allowed the guns to traverse up to 300 degrees. The gun housing of the turret was armoured but while it would not protect the crew from a direct hit, it would protect against shrapnel. Below the guns were magazine stores for both cordite charge bags and projectiles, the machinery needed to rotate and move the gun and the motors to power it. Inside the turret were controls to open and close the breech, lift and lower the loading tray and aim the gun. The guns had a potential maximum range of 35km or 22 miles, however, the guns at La Mola lacked the necessary range-finding equipment to achieve this range.
A contemporary photograph showing the interior of the gun turret. A shell is sat on the loading try ready to be pushed into the breech. (source)
The ancillary buildings for the battery on La Mola are built just behind the two gun emplacements with offices, stores and barracks built in an old quarry. As well as the two main guns the battery was supported by four faster firing 6 inch Vickers guns.
One of Menorca’s 15 inch guns firing c.1980s (source)
With the eruption of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Menorca was initially held by the Republicans. But in 1939, the island fell to General Franco’s Nationalists and the fort’s military prison was used to house a number of prominent Republican prisoners. Throughout the Cold War the fort continued to be used by the Spanish Army as a training centre but the rise of air power, the invention of the cruise missile and nuclear weapons rendered the fort and its guns increasingly obsolete.
The last of Spain’s 15 inch guns were finally decommissioned in the mid-2000s, after nearly 80 years in service. Fortalesa Isabel II and her two massive guns never saw action, and today the site is maintained as an impressive museum which is well worth a visit.
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Specifications:
Length: 18m or 59 feet
Weight: 86.9 tons
Action: breech-loading
Calibre: 15 inch or 381mm
Elevation -5 / +40 degrees
Traverse: 300 degrees
Rate of fire: 2 rounds per minute
Bibliography:
The Fortress of Isabel II on La Mola in Mahon Harbour (19th 7 20th Century), F. Fornals (2007)
The Conquests and Reconquests of Menorca, M. Mata (1984)
The Armourers Bench 