Prof John Hattendorf discusses Rocks role in WWI
Professor John Hattendorf is interviewed by Jennifer Ballentine at the Convent.
by Priya Gulraj Gibraltar was the primary base for the US Navy during World War One, with sailors and officers remaining on the Rock for almost three years.
American naval historian Professor John Hattendorf yesterday spoke at the Gibraltar Literary Festival about the Rock’s “strategic location” in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea that made it easily accessible.
A discussion was held with Dr Jennifer Ballantine at the Convent where Prof Hattendorf spoke about his findings.
During the US Navy’s time in Gibraltar, Vice Admiral Albert Niblack was a key player for the 300 officers and nearly 4,000 American sailors in Gibraltar.
He wrote about his time in Gibraltar and the politics of the time in his memoirs.
Prof Hattendorf found and published these memoirs which highlighted the US Navy’s role in World War One and in Gibraltar.
The Bay of Gibraltar was home to anything between 30 and 40 US Navy vessels, and even though Spain was a neutral nation in World War Once it became a “hot house for spies from both sides”, he said.
This was in the time before the NATO structure was introduced and many different countries had their naval vessels out in the sea.
Although the US Navy and Royal Navy secured the area to the entrance to the Mediterranean, Germany started sending ships to the Adriatic Sea.
Prof Hattendorf described the area as a “source of submarine activity in the Mediterranean”.
During their time in Gibraltar, the American sailors were housed at the YMCA in College Lane.
Niblack described Gibraltar as a “welcoming place”, and the locals who ran these places were recognised by the US Government.
He continued to return to Gibraltar on a number of occasions, once to welcome
Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, on a visit to Gibraltar, and while he worked with the US Naval Force in London.
Niblack returned to the United States before retiring in South Carolina.
He passed away in 1931 and his memoirs were filed by the US Navy’s Office of Naval Records and Library shortly after his death.
American naval historian Professor John Hattendorf yesterday spoke at the Gibraltar Literary Festival about the Rock’s “strategic location” in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea that made it easily accessible.
A discussion was held with Dr Jennifer Ballantine at the Convent where Prof Hattendorf spoke about his findings.
During the US Navy’s time in Gibraltar, Vice Admiral Albert Niblack was a key player for the 300 officers and nearly 4,000 American sailors in Gibraltar.
He wrote about his time in Gibraltar and the politics of the time in his memoirs.
Prof Hattendorf found and published these memoirs which highlighted the US Navy’s role in World War One and in Gibraltar.
The Bay of Gibraltar was home to anything between 30 and 40 US Navy vessels, and even though Spain was a neutral nation in World War Once it became a “hot house for spies from both sides”, he said.
This was in the time before the NATO structure was introduced and many different countries had their naval vessels out in the sea.
Although the US Navy and Royal Navy secured the area to the entrance to the Mediterranean, Germany started sending ships to the Adriatic Sea.
Prof Hattendorf described the area as a “source of submarine activity in the Mediterranean”.
During their time in Gibraltar, the American sailors were housed at the YMCA in College Lane.
Niblack described Gibraltar as a “welcoming place”, and the locals who ran these places were recognised by the US Government.
He continued to return to Gibraltar on a number of occasions, once to welcome
Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, on a visit to Gibraltar, and while he worked with the US Naval Force in London.
Niblack returned to the United States before retiring in South Carolina.
He passed away in 1931 and his memoirs were filed by the US Navy’s Office of Naval Records and Library shortly after his death.