Pembroke Battery ( mt, Batterija ta' Pembroke) was an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...

in Pembroke,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was built by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

between 1897 and 1899, and most of it was demolished in the 1980s.

History

By the mid-1890s, the RML armament of the nearby

Fort Pembroke Fort Pembroke ( mt, Il-Fortizza ta' Pembroke) is a polygonal fort in Pembroke, Malta. It was built between 1875 and 1878 by the British to defend part of the Victoria Lines. The fort now houses the Verdala International School. History Fort Pem ...

had become obsolete, and the fort was turned into an ammunition depot. The British decided that it would be cheaper to construct a new battery rather than upgrade the fort's guns. Pembroke Battery was built between 1897 and 1899, and it formed part of a new series of fortifications meant to house breech-loading (BL) guns. The battery was oval in shape, and its magazines and other features were located underground. It was surrounded by a ditch and a glacis, which was defended by

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

. It was armed with two 9.2 inch Mk X guns, which were mounted ''en barbette''. These were dismantled in 1919 and the battery was struck off the armaments list. The battery remained unused until the 1980s.

Present day

The western gun emplacement and part of the battery's underground complex were demolished in the 1980s during a housing expansion project. All that remains of Pembroke Battery today is a single reinforced concrete semi-circular gun emplacement, and remains of some of the other structures at the rear. The Pembroke Local Council and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) are currently restoring the remains of the battery to transform it into a museum.

References

Pembroke, Malta British fortifications in Malta Batteries in Malta Military installations established in 1899 Demolished buildings and structures in Malta Military installations closed in 1919 19th-century fortifications {{Malta-struct-stub