O’Hara’s Battery including the complete 9.2 in gun magazines engine room and associated works and spare barrel.

Ref: HLFP3/801

O’Hara’s Battery stands at the highest point of the Rock of Gibraltar, 426 metres above sea level, on its southern tip. Built between 1888 and 1890, it forms part of the Upper Batteries along with the nearby Lord Airey’s and Spur Batteries. The site is named after Lieutenant General Charles O’Hara, Governor of Gibraltar from 1795 to 1802.

Before the battery’s construction, the location was occupied by a watchtower built in the late eighteenth century at O’Hara’s request. He believed it would allow the garrison to observe the port of Cádiz. The tower proved useless for this purpose and was struck by lightning soon after completion, leaving it a ruin for most of the nineteenth century. Locals nicknamed it “O’Hara’s Folly.” In 1888, it was scheduled for demolition and famously targeted by HMS Wasp. After six attempts, the crew managed to hit the tower, and the remains were later dismantled by hand. Construction of the battery followed shortly after.

The battery’s first weapon was a 6-inch BL gun on a Vavasseur Central Pivot mounting. By 1900, this was replaced with a 9.2-inch BL Mark IX gun on a Mark V mounting to extend its reach across the Strait. From 26 July 1914 to 26 November 1918, the site was manned by 8 Company Royal Garrison Artillery.

In 1935, the gun was upgraded again to a 9.2-inch BL Mark X on a Mark VII mounting, increasing both range and effectiveness. O’Hara’s Battery was fully manned during the Second World War and, along with Lord Airey’s and Spur Batteries, remained operational until 1976, when Gibraltar’s coastal defence guns were declared obsolete. The gun was last fired on 7 April 1976, in coordination with the neighbouring batteries.

Today, O’Hara’s Battery is part of the Gibraltar Nature Reserve. Visitors can explore the site, including the gun emplacement and the control room, both of which remain intact and operational.

Richard Phillips, ‘Journal of a Recent Voyage to Cadiz’, The Monthly magazine, 31 (1811), pp. 428-432.

Denis Rollo, Guns on the Rock: The British Artillery Defences of Gibraltar, 1704-1989 (London, 1990).