THE PROUD ROCK
“The Proud Rock, there she stands!” has been the cry of Royal Navy men for more than two centuries. Such a greeting rises out of sailors’ throats almost spontaneously when they see the thrilling sight of Gibraltar - the “Rock” that rises inspiringly above the narrow entrance of the Mediterranean.
Today, Gibraltar represents a little corner of Old England in the heart of the Mediterranean world. The sliver-like peninsula that inches out from the Spanish mainland is a footstool for the limestone “Rock” that climbs over 800 feet into the air. It shelters a deep anchorage for the fleets of the World, and an impressive airport built out into the water.
A mecca for travellers, Gibraltar is a shopping emporium and a vacation haven. Its Main Street, lined tightly with shops, offers the World's wares at tax-free prices. The great mountain affords nestling places for comfortable vacation hotels, hidden beneath lush flowers and bushes and flourishing in the warm southern sun.
History hovers closely over this great fortress of the free world. Known to Hercules as the far western pillar of his Greek World, it later became known as “Mona Calpe” by the Romans who feared to sail beyond it out into the deep Ocean. Its name was rudely and roughly changed in the year 614 when corsairs from Morocco led by Chief Tarik seized it and made it the linchpin for their conquest of all Spain. The Rock's new name became Jebel-el-Tarik, and it took only a few stutterings by European tongues to change this into “Gibraltar.”
For six centuries the mountain remained Moorish, then the Spaniards held it for five. In 1704 the British took it in the great War of the Spanish Succession. During our American Revolution the Spaniards subjected it to a four year siege, and during the recent war the fort lay under threats of air and sea attacks from the Fascist powers.
Britain's flag, flying over “Gib” for two and a half centuries, has kept the Strait of Gibraltar a patrolled “highway” for ships of the seven seas, maintaining it for the free world's vital traffic in the two last big wars.
The Caronia will steam into this great historical bay to dip her flag in salute to such great seafaring traditions while on her great Autumn Cruise to the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
[Produced for the Autumn Mediterranean Cruise departing New York 29 Sept 1966]