HMS Gibraltar (1892)

[3] In July 1902 she was head of a group of seven Royal Navy ships visiting Zanzibar for a show of force following the death of the sultan and accession of his son, Ali bin Hamud.

[4] The following month she visited Kenya,[5] and Beira, Mozambique, before she was back in South Africa in September.

[9] Despite her obsolescence, she saw service in the First World War, first with the 10th Cruiser Squadron on Northern Patrol and from 1915 as a depot ship for this group, based in the Shetland Islands.

Two of her QF 6-in Mk I guns were dismounted from the cruiser and moved to Swarbacks Head on Vementry, a headland that overlooks the entrance to Swarbacks Minn between the islands of Vementry and Muckle Roe for shore based defence.

Captain Ronald Arthur Hopwood was in command 1913–1914, leaving at the start of the First World War.

Guns from HMS Gibraltar on the island of Vementry, Shetland
One of Gibraltar ' s remaining guns with its breech mechanism removed