Clash in the Gut – the First and Second Battles of Algeciras
The British naval base at Gibraltar lies on one side of a small bay, directly opposite its Spanish equivalent at Algeciras. Both were established for the same strategic reason - to dominate the Gut, the narrow strip of sea between Europe and Africa and the only place where shipping could travel between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic before the construction of the Suez Canal. In the 18th century the batteries of guns protecting them were just outside long cannon shot of ea
