Spanish Cruiser VIZCAYA
By Patrick McSherry
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Other views of the VIZCAYA:
Stern view after the battle
||| Broadside view after battle showing
bow damage ||| chart of hits
Shell fired by Vizcaya at
Santiago ||| Vizcaya wreck as seen
in 1902
Capt. Antonio Eulate's
Report of the Action of the VIZCAYA at Santiago
Click here
to read about a 14 cm Hontoria gun from Vizcaya at the U.S.
Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland
Click here for another of
the VIZCAYA's 14 cm Hontoria Guns in Columbia, Tennessee
Click here for another of
the VIZCAYA's 14 cm Hontoria Guns at West Point, New York
Click here to read about a
gun reputedly from Vizacaya, which is not in Lowell. Massachusetts
1/400
Plan and Profile (BIG .pdf file - 600 Kb)
(Courtesy of Jose Pillet - Requires substantial
download time and Adobe Acrobat reader)
GENERAL:
The Cruiser VIZCAYA was one of the prides of the Spanish Fleet. Part of Admiral Cervera's Squadron, she was trapped at
Santiago de Cuba by the blockading US Fleet of Sampson
and Schley and destroyed when the Spanish ships
sortied on July 3, 1898.
BACKGROUND:
VIZCAYA was sent to New York early in 1898 to reciprocate the "friendly"
visit of USS MAINE to Havana. After the
destruction of the MAINE, she returned to Spain
and was attached to Admiral Cervera's fleet.
Very soon VIZCAYA was again crossing the Atlantic for what would prove to
be the last time. Blockaded at Santiago de Cuba with the rest of Cervera's
force,
VIZCAYA was the second ship to sortie from the harbor on July 3, 1898.
Suffering from heavy American fire during the Battle
of
Santiago, Captain Don Antonio Eulate ran VIZCAYA on the rocks about
18 miles from the harbor entrance and surrendered, in order to save the
lives of his crew. When the wounded Eulate was brought aboard the USS
IOWA, he glanced over at his blazing command, raised his hand in
salute and said "Adios, Vizcaya". As if on cue, the cruiser's forward
magazine exploded as the words left his lips. When the US
Navy surveyed the wrecks of the Spanish fleet after the war, VIZCAYA
was declared a total loss.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
The VIZCAYA was a modern and speedy first class Cruiser. However, the
level of training and maintenance in the Spanish fleet was not what it
should have been, and the VIZCAYA, like all of Cervera's
ships,
went to war at less than full efficiency. She was in severe need of
drydocking, her foul bottom greatly reducing her speed and increasing her
coal usage. She was short of ammunition and some of her guns were not
operable. Also, like all warships of the era, she was heavily decorated
and furnished with wood. The U.S. Navy stripped
this flammable material off its vessels at the beginning of the conflict,
but the Spanish failed to do so, making the VIZCAYA and her fleet-mates
seriously susceptible to fire.
TECHNOTES:
| Classification: |
|
Cruiser (Intermediate type between armored and
protected, |
|
|
secondary guns and other vital parts had no
armor.) |
| Laid down: |
|
1889 |
| Launched: |
|
1891 |
| Completed: |
|
1893 |
| Rig: |
|
Two military masts |
| Armament: |
|
Two 28 cm Hontoria guns (11 inch) |
|
|
Ten 14 cm
Hontoria QF guns (5.5 inch) |
|
|
Eight 57 mm Hotchkiss
QF guns (3 inch?) |
|
|
Eight 37 mm revolving Hotchkiss guns (1.65 inch) |
|
|
Two 22 mm Nordenfelt machine guns |
|
|
Two 2.75 inch bronze guns (for landing parties?) |
|
|
Eight torpedo tubes |
| Contractor: |
|
Sociedad Astilleros del Nervión of Sestao, |
|
|
supported by Brown of Sheffield (UK). |
| Length: |
|
366 feet, 8 inches (111.8 meters) |
| Beam: |
|
65 feet (19.81 meters) |
| Mean draft: |
|
21 feet, 6 inches (6.55 meters) |
| Displacement: |
|
6,890 tons |
| Complement: |
|
497 Officers and Men, under the command |
|
|
of Captain Don Antonio Eulate. |
| Engine type: |
|
13,700 hp. engines, twin screws. |
| Speed: |
|
20.25 knots |
| Coal bunker capacity: |
|
1,050 tons |
| Coal endurance @ 10 knots: |
|
9,700 miles |
| Armor: |
|
305 mm (10 -12 inch) steel compound side belt, |
|
|
250 mm (9.8 inch) barbettes, 50 mm (2 inch)
deck. |
Bibliography:
(As a service to our readers, clicking on title in
red will take you to that book on
Amazon.com)
Azoy, A.C.M., Signal 250! The Sea Fight Off Santiago, (New York:
David McKay Company, 1964).
Blow, Michael, A
Ship to Remember , (New York: William Morrow and Company,
Inc., 1992)
Brown, Charles H., The Correspondent's War. (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1967).
Clerk of Joint Committee on Printing, The Abridgement of Message
from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899. Vols. 2, 4.
Crabtree, HJ. B., The pasing of Spain and the Ascendency of
America. (Springfield: The King-Richardson Pusblishing Co., 1898),
p.346.
Freidel, Frank, The Splendid Little War" (Boston: Little,
Brown and Company, 1958).
González López, Manuel P., Personal Internet Contact.
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