Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo
 Almirante Oquendo
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| History | |
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.svg){kind=small} Spain | |
| Name | Almirante Oquendo |
| Namesake | Spanish Admiral Don Antonio de Oquendo (1577–1640) |
| Builder | Bilbao |
| Laid down | January 1889 |
| Launched | 1891 [1] |
| Completed | 1893 |
| Fate | Sunk 3 July 1898 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruiser |
| Displacement | 6,890 tons |
| Length | 364 ft 0 in (110.95 m) |
| Beam | 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m) |
| Draft | 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m) maximum |
| Installed power | 13,700 ihp (10,200 kW) |
| Propulsion | 2-shaft vertical triple expansion |
| Speed | 20.2 knots (37.4 km/h; 23.2 mph) (forced draft) |
| Complement | 484 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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| Notes | 1,050 tons of coal (normal) |
Almirante Oquendo, was an Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War.
Technical characteristics
Almirante Oquendo was built at
Operational history
Almirante Oquendo was in
The
Almirante Oquendo and the other ships endured occasional American naval bombardments of the harbor. Almirante Oquendo still had one 140 mm gun out of commission, 80 percent of the 140 mm ammunition was defective, and nothing could be done under the circumstances about her fouled bottom. Some of her men joined others from the fleet in a Naval Brigade to fight against a
By the beginning of July 1898, that drive threatened to capture Santiago de Cuba, and Cervera decided that his squadron's only hope was to try to escape into the open sea by running the blockade. The decision was made on 1 July 1898, with the break-out set for 3 July 1898. The crew of Almirante Oquendo spent 2 July 1898 returning from Naval Brigade service and preparing for action. Almirante Oquendo was to be the fourth ship in line during the escape, following Cervera's flagship Infanta Maria Teresa, Vizcaya, and the armored cruiser Cristobal Colon, with the destroyers Furor and Pluton bringing up the rear. While Infanta Maria Teresa sacrificed herself by attacking the fastest American ship, the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn, Almirante Oquendo and the others were to put on all the speed they could and run westward for the open sea.
At about 0845 hours on 3 July 1898, the Spanish ships got underway. The U.S. squadron sighted the Spanish ships in the channel at about 0935, and the Battle of Santiago de Cuba began.
While Infanta Maria Teresa and Vizacaya charged Brooklyn and the two destroyers turned westward farther inshore, Almirante Oquendo followed Cristobal Colon in a dash to the west. When Brooklyn turned away to the east, Vizcaya and Infanta Maria Teresa also turned west, brushing past the last obstacle in the path of the four Spanish armored cruisers, the armed yacht USS Vixen.
Almirante Oquendo now found herself back in the line-ahead formation the squadron had formed when it left its anchorage, in fourth place behind the other three armored cruisers, although now without the following destroyers, which were being chased farther inshore. The U.S. squadron gave chase as the Spanish ships made an all-out break for the west, with the American ships about a mile to port of and slightly astern of the Spanish ships. At 1035, the sinking Infanta Maria Teresa was driven ashore with heavy damage and fires.
As last ship in the Spanish line during a stern chase, Almirante Oquendo naturally drew more than her share of attention from her pursuers. The battleship USS Iowa was only 1,600 yards (1,500 m) off her port quarter, while the battleships USS Oregon and USS Indiana also were closing from that direction, and Brooklyn was on her port bow. Concentrated fire from the three battleships punished Almirante Oquendo. Iowa scored 43 six-pounder hits which killed or wounded most of the sailors on the Spanish cruiser's upper decks, where her 5.5-inch guns were mounted without protection, and one of her own 5.5-inch shells exploded prematurely in the gun's breach, killing the gun's crew. Almirante Oquendo drew admiration from her opponents by lashing back with a high volume of shell- and machine-gun fire. But she took three 8-inch (203 mm), one 6-inch (152 mm), one 5-inch (127 mm), and nine 4-inch (102 mm) hits, and soon a fire started in her after torpedo room that could not be brought under control and threatened to spark an ammunition explosion that would have wrecked the ship. Her mortally wounded captain ordered her to be scuttled, and she turned out of the line and ran for shore, beaching about 700 metres (770 yards) offshore, a few hundred yards (meters) to the west of Infanta Maria Teresa and about 6.8 nautical miles (12.6 kilometres) west of Santiago de Cuba, at around 1030 hours.
Some of her sailors made it ashore, although they had to beware of Cuban insurgents, who began to shoot the survivors of the wrecked Spanish ships. Others were rescued by American sailors who brought small boats alongside the wrecks to take off survivors. Almirante Oquendo lost 80 dead in the engagement.
Postwar, a U.S. Navy survey team evaluating Spanish wrecks for their potential for being raised and put in American service concluded that Almirante Oquendo was beyond salvage.
Commemoration
Three Hontoria 140-mm (5.5-inch) guns from Almirante Oquendo are on display in the United States. One – with damage to its shield incurred during the ship′s final battle – is located outside the U.S. Navy Personnel Support Detachment office (Building 92) at Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling in Washington, D.C. A plaque mounted near the gun reads:
THE GUNThis Hontoria 140mm (5.5 in) naval gun was taken from the Spanish cruiser ALMIRANTE OQUENDO following her capture at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on 3 July 1898 during the Spanish American War. ALMIRANTE OQUENDO, of the INFANTA MARIA TERESA class, was one of six Spanish ships which sortied from the Cuban port in order to avoid capture in the harbor. None escaped the blockading U.S. Naval Squadron. The hole in the gun′s shield was inflicted by one of approximately 50 rounds which hit ALMIRANTE OQUENDO.
The gun was restored by sailors of Processing Division and General Detail, Naval District Washington, during 1982 and 1983.
Another gun is on display at the
At present, the Naval Battle Underwater Park of Santiago de Cuba has been created to preserve the wrecks of the ships and pay tribute to the brave sailors who perished in the place. Aquatic immersions can be made.
Notes
- ^ a b The Spanish–American War Centennial Website: Almirante Oquendo lists the launch date as 10 April 1891; Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, p. 382, lists it as 4 October 1891. The difference apparently arises from transposition of the numerals for the date and month, and it is not clear which is correct.
- ^ "The Spanish–American War Centennial Website: Almirante Oquendo". Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- ^ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, p. 382
References
- Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Eds. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York, New York: Mayflower Books Inc., 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- ISBN 0-938289-57-8.
External links
- The Spanish–American War Centennial Website: Almirante Oquendo Archived 2013-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
- Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Spanish Navy Ships: Almirante Oquendo (Armored Cruiser, 1891–1898)
19°58′39″N 76°8′40″W / 19.97750°N 76.14444°W
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1898 | |
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