Beefsteak Cave is a cave in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. It is located in the south of the Rock, between

Europa Point Europa Point (Spanish language, Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa), is the southernmost point of Gibraltar (the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula being Punta de Tarifa 25 km southwest of Gibraltar). At the end of ...

and Windmill Hill.

History

During the three-and-a-half-year-long

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...

the population of the Rock made use of the caves to shelter from the bombardment. This cave was used by Gibraltarians whilst Poca Roca Cave was prepared for use by the Governor of Gibraltar (but never used). During World War II this cave and

Coptic Cave Coptic Cave is a sea cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The cave was intended to be used as a decoy to protect Operation Tracer. This was a plan to leave behind spies should the British lose control of the Rock of Gibraltar in ...

were chosen to be part of ''Operation Monkey'' which created two decoy caves. These caves were intended to deflect any investigation by invaders of Gibraltar who were looking for spies left behind by the British.Coptic Cave
, Underground-Gibraltar.com,

Gibraltar Museum The Gibraltar National Museum is a national museum of the history, culture and natural history of Gibraltar located within the city centre of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Founded in 1930 by the then Governor of Gibraltar, Genera ...

, accessed January 2013 The real plan to leave behind spies in a cave was called

Operation Tracer Operation Tracer was a secret Second World War military operation in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory and military base. The impetus for the plan was the 1940 scheme by Germany to capture Gibraltar, code-named Operation Felix. Operation ...

and the existence of this plan was no more than a rumour until the cave was discovered in 1997 by the

Gibraltar Caving Group The Gibraltar Caving Group is an organisation based in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It forms the Caves and Cliffs Section of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society. The group of skilled cavers Caving – al ...

References

Caves of Gibraltar {{Gibraltar-geo-stub