This afternoon we visited the Guns of Cartagena. These are several batteries of large calibre guns that were installed for the protection of Cartagena harbour which is about 10 miles from there. The batteries are on a remote headland with beautiful views of the sea and hills (and the sea approaches to Cartagena harbour!).
The guns were supplied by Vickers UK and erected in 1926. They were operational until 1993 when the army just abandoned the installation, leaving the armaments and buildings intact. Anyone can wander around at will, even into the subterranean passages under the guns (torch necessary). The site is very extensive and would have accommodated hundreds of men. The guns themselves are most impressive, the largest pair being effectively battleship 20-inch guns, capable of throwing a one-ton shell over 20 miles.
Considering all the expense and difficulty of construction in that remote location, and the large cost of upkeep of the guns and garrison, they were only fired in anger once, in 1939 during the Spanish civil war, when a steamship was sunk.
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