Following proposals by Admiral Sir Augustus Phillimore KCB, work on HM Dockyard Gibraltar started in the mid 1890’s and took over a decade to complete. Late 19^th Century anchors such as these were used during the construction of the Dockyard and associated moles for mooring construction barges and ancillary ships.

Weighing between 6 and 10 tons these one-hook cast iron anchors are known as dead-weight anchors, literally holding the surface vessel firm because of their tremendous weight. Although this anchor is two-pieced (stoke or cross-bar and anchor), they were also deployed without the stoke.

After the construction of the dockyard, these anchors were left on the sea-bed. A number of these anchors were lifted in the 1980’s during dredging operations around the dock area and stored on land.

This anchor is currently in storage.