The Great Siege of Gibraltar Trivia Quiz

Answer: War of Spanish Succession

Gibraltar was captured from Spain in 1704 by a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet, who were acting to support the claim of Archduke Charles of Austria to the Spanish throne. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht confirmed Britain's claim on Gibraltar, which has remained in force ever since.

Answer: 8.9 miles

The Strait of Gibraltar is extremely narrow by the standards of waterways, which has made the control of Gibraltar itself an important part of British global strategy through the past three centuries.

Answer: Three years and seven months

The story of the Great Siege is one of tremendous endurance and courage by both sides. Never was surrender seriously contemplated, despite extreme privations, tremendous, almost constant shelling after the second British relief squadron arrived during the siege.

The town was virtually flattened and death and wounding a daily occurrence. Despite this, the Spanish and French suffered far more casualties, lacking water and supplies, engaging in unsuccessful assaults and enduring shelling from the garrison.

Answer: George Rodney

The garrison was suffering from scurvy and was nearing the end of their rope when Rodney's squadron of 21 ships of the line arrived at Gibraltar, to the frustration of the Spanish, whose strategy was to starve out the British. At that point the siege had been underway since June of the previous year, and the bombardment of Gibraltar had not yet begun in earnest, but conditions were bad indeed for the garrison and civilian population that was still largely in place at that time. Before relieving the garrison, Rodney took six Spanish ships in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and after relieving Gibraltar and Minorca went on to the West Indies to win the Battle of the Saintes against the French in 1782, capturing four and destroying one French ship of the line.

Answer: Home waters

Darby's squadron arrived in time to succor the garrison and take more civilians off the Rock, but as soon as it arrived and had swatted the smaller Spanish fleet away, the frustrated Spanish began their bombardment of the town and the ships in the harbor in earnest to stop the resupply, and the round the clock bombardment continued for most of the rest of the siege. Most of the supplies were landed but much was not, and to save his fleet from further damage Darby came off and returned to England.

It is an interesting parallel to the action taken in 1942 by Admiral Fletcher in his hasty departure from Guadalcanal, also taken to save his fleet.

Answer: A successful sortie by the garrison

"The Sortie" as it is still known, was a daring nighttime raid by approximately half of the garrison the night before the planned assault that saw the destruction of key batteries and other works. The raid was a complete surprise to the Spanish, who were dazed by the event and, with the loss of key batteries, cancelled the assault.

Answer: Floating batteries

Ten heavily reinforced floating batteries, supported by 49 ships of the line, were were sailed into position from the nearby Spanish port of Algeciras in one of the most incredible attempts to break a siege ever conceived. 60,000 Spanish and French troops were coordinated from the Spanish positions on land and combined troops in the batteries attacked the roughly 5,000 British and King's German Legion defenders on 13 September 1782, resulting in the utter destruction of the batteries and loss of hundreds of troops and sailors.

The key to the British defense was heated shot that ignited the batteries and kept the ships of the line at bay. So confident of victory were the Spanish and French that 80,000 spectators had come to watch from the hills over the bay.

Answer: Royal George

In a tragic accident, while preparing to sail with Howe's squadron, Royal George was heeled over to get at the hull for repairs. It heeled over too far, took on water and sunk at anchor, killing around 900 people, including 360 women and children. The consistent relief of the garrison by the RN, and the inability of the Spanish to prevent it, was the single most important factor in the ultimate success of the British defense.

Answer: He was a teetotaller and vegetarian

General Eliott is still seen as one the great commanders of British history. His monument and statue can be found in south transept of St Paul's Cathedral, London, and his portrait by Joshua Reynolds is in the National Gallery. He was also an austere and almost ascetic man whose personal habits were very unusual for the age.

Answer: Both commanders toured the works of the other

After Eliott had visited and admired the Spanish/French batteries and defenses, the Duc de Crillion toured what remained of the town of Gibraltar and its works, to the cheers of the garrison. Those were different days.