12. The largest battle of the American Revolution was fought in the Mediterranean
On September 13, 1782, French and Spanish troops and ships attacked the British fortifications at Gibraltar, with over five thousand men in the floating batteries, and another 35,000 preparing to attack from the siege lines. The batteries were by noon under fire by hot shot – cannon balls heated to a red hot glow before being loaded and fired – which at first had little effect as the pumping system doused those shot which hit their target. The floating batteries drifted apart from each other, making their fire less concentrated and thus less effective. The Spanish ships of the fleet failed to join the close bombardment, allowing the British gunners to concentrate on the batteries.
The British counterattacked with gunboats, and the Spanish manned floating batteries were soon captured and destroyed by British sailors and marines. As darkness fell the attack disintegrated into confusion, with Spanish batteries ashore firing on the British gunboats and hitting the floating batteries, which were destroyed when fire reached their heavily stocked magazines. Throughout the night the harbor was rent with explosions. By morning all of the batteries had been destroyed, the harbor was a mass of sunken hulls, and the Rock was still in British hands. The so-called Grand Assault on Gibraltar had been a dismal failure for the Spanish, who failed to commit their fleet to the assault when it may have been the deciding factor in the attack.