Spanish cruiser Vizcaya
Vizcaya sometime between 1893 and 1898
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History | |
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Spain | |
Name | Vizcaya |
Namesake | Vizcaya, a Spanish province. |
Builder | Bilbao, Spain |
Laid down | 1889 |
Launched | 8 July 1891 |
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 kn (37.4 km/h; 23.2 mph) (forced draft) |
Endurance | 1,050 tons of coal (normal) |
Complement | 484 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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Armor |
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Vizcaya 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
Vizcaya was built at
Operational history
Vizcaya was visiting
The
Some action occurred during the blockade. On 3 June 1898, the U.S. Navy steamed the collier USS Merrimac into the entrance channel to the harbor, hoping to scuttle her so as to block the channel and trap the Spanish ships inside. Spanish shore batteries already had disabled Merrimac when she drifted up the channel to a point where the Spanish ships could fire on her as well. Vizcaya, the unprotected cruiser Reina Mercedes, and the destroyer Pluton all opened fire, and Merrimac quickly sank in a position that did not block the entrance. Vizcaya hit the bridge of Merrimac with several 5.5-inch rounds.[3]
The blockade wore on, with Vizcaya and the others enduring occasional American naval bombardments of the harbor. Vizcaya still had two 5.5-inch guns out of commission, 80 percent of the 5.5-inch ammunition was defective, and nothing could be done under the circumstances about her terribly 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 Vizcaya spent 2 July 1898 returning from Naval Brigade service and preparing for action. Vizcaya was to be the second ship in line during the escape, following Cervera's flagship Infanta Maria Teresa; while Infanta Maria Teresa was sacrificed by attacking the fastest American ship, the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn, Vizcaya 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 their squadron mates turned to starboard and put on steam for a run to the west behind them, Vizcaya followed Infanta Maria Teresa closely as she charged Brooklyn as if to ram. When Brooklyn turned away to the east, Vizcaya and Infanta Maria Teresa turned west, brushing past the last obstacle in their path, the armed yacht USS Vixen.
Vizcaya now found herself back in the line-ahead formation the squadron had formed when it left its anchorage, in second place behind Infanta Maria Teresa and ahead of armored cruiser Cristóbal Colón and Almirante Oquendo. At 1035, the sinking Infanta Maria Teresa was driven ashore with heavy damage and fires, and Almirante Oquendo soon suffered the same fate, running aground nearly abreast of Vizcaya. Further inshore, the two Spanish destroyers also succumbed. By 1050, Vizcaya and Cristóbal Colón were the only Spanish ships left.
Brooklyn now focused on Vizcaya, closing to a range of 950 yards (870 m) and pounding Vizcaya with numerous 8-inch (203 mm) and 5-inch (127 mm) shell hits, while battleships USS Texas, Iowa, Oregon, and Indiana also scored hits. Vizcaya managed to score two 5.5-inch hits on Brooklyn, killing the lone American sailor who died in the battle. But at about 1100, Brooklyn scored two 8-inch hits on Vizcaya; one detonated a torpedo in her forward tube and blew a large part of her bow off, and the other knocked down her bridge and set her decorative woodwork and wooden furnishings on fire. When the fire began to cause ready ammunition for the secondary battery to explode, the end was clearly at hand for Vizcaya. At 1106, she turned toward the shore, struck her battle ensign, and ran herself up on the beach.
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. One of those rescued was the commanding officer of Vizcaya, Captain Don Antonio Eulate, who, when brought aboard Iowa, looked at the burning wreck of his ship, raised his hand in salute, and called out "Adios, Vizcaya!" Immediately, as if on cue, the cruiser's forward magazines exploded.
Postwar, a U.S. Navy survey team evaluating Spanish wrecks for their potential for being raised and put in American service concluded that Vizcaya was beyond salvage.
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.
Commemoration
Two of Vizcaya's 140-mm (5.5-inch) naval guns were salvaged from her wreck and is on permanent display at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Another of Vizcaya's 140-mm guns is in Grant Park in Galena, Illinois, and one is at Historic Fort Wayne in Detroit Michigan.
Video gallery
Notes
- ^ The Spanish–American War Centennial Website: Vizcaya
- ^ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, p. 382
- ^ The Boys of '98, By James Otis
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: Vizcaya
- The Spanish–American War Centennial Website: Almirante Oquendo Archived 31 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Spanish Navy Ships: Vizcaya (Armored Cruiser, 1891–1898) Archived 19 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- Library of Congress film "Vizcaya Under Full Headway" on YouTube
- Library of Congress film "Wreck of the Vizcaya" on YouTube
19°58′N 76°8′W / 19.967°N 76.133°W