Spanish destroyer Furor
Furor on builder's trials in the United Kingdom ca. 1896
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History | |
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Spain | |
Name | Furor |
Namesake | Spanish word for "fury". |
Builder | Thomson, later Clydebank |
Laid down | 21 February 1896 |
Launched | 7 August 1896 |
Completed | 21 November 1896 |
Fate | Sunk 3 July 1898 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Furor-class destroyer |
Displacement | 370 tons |
Length | 220 ft 0 in (67.06 m) |
Beam | 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m) |
Draft | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
Installed power | 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) |
Propulsion | 2-shaft, 4-cylinder triple expansion, 4 Normand boilers |
Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
Complement | 67 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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Notes | 100 tons coal (normal) |
Furor was a Furor-class destroyer of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War.
Technical characteristics
Furor was built in the United Kingdom by Thomson, (which would rename itself
Operational history
The Spanish–American War began while Furor was at São Vicente. Ordered by neutral Portugal in accordance with international law to leave São Vicente within 24 hours of the declaration of war, Furor and the rest of Cervera's squadron departed on 29 April 1898, bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico. Because of continuing engine trouble and low coal supplies, Furor and her fellow destroyers were towed part of the way. Cervera's ships reached French-owned Martinique in the Lesser Antilles on 10 May 1898.[3]
While the other ships loitered in international waters, Furor and Terror went into
Leaving Terror behind, Furor and the rest of Cervera's squadron set out on 12 May 1898 for Dutch-owned
During the blockade, Furor and the others endured occasional American naval bombardments of the harbor; during one such bombardment on 6 June 1898, she took a shell hit in her bunkerage, but suffered no serious damage.
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 Furor spent 2 July 1898 returning from Naval Brigade service and preparing for action. Furor was to be the fifth ship in line during the escape, following the four armored cruisers and with Pluton behind her; while Infanta Maria Teresa sacrificed herself by attacking the fastest American ship, the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn, Furor and the others were to avoid action, put on all the speed they could, and run for the open sea.[8]
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.[9]
While the four armored cruisers turned to starboard to run westward, Furor and Pluton turned inside them and made their run closer to the coast. The blockading American battleships and armored cruisers opened fire on the two destroyers as they emerged from the channel, hitting both destroyers several times, but then turned their attention to pursuing the Spanish cruisers. The two damaged destroyers put on speed, pursued only by the armed yacht USS Gloucester, a ship less well armed than the destroyers, but larger, faster, and undamaged. Gloucester hit both destroyers repeatedly.[10] In short order, casualties aboard Furor began to climb, and her stern flooded and became submerged; all her boilers were destroyed and her engine damaged; fires broke out in several places, including a particularly bad one in the engine room, which lay over the shell room, causing a danger of explosion; a hole was punched in her side; and finally her steering failed.[11]
Too badly damaged to continue, Pluton ran herself aground at 1045 on the beach just west of Cabanas Bay. Now alone, Furor survived only five more minutes. Still firing her guns, but with half her crew killed or wounded and clearly doomed, Furor stuck her colors and began to lower her boats; several American projectiles struck Spanish sailors struggling in the water before the Americans realized she had surrendered. Two American boats came alongside and began to take off survivors, but quickly pushed away again fearing an imminent magazine explosion, which promptly occurred. Furor sank about a mile offshore in deep water at 1050.[12]
Captain Villaamil died aboard Furor, as did over half of her crew.[13] Those of her crew who got ashore had to beware of Cuban insurgents, who began shooting Spanish sailors they found along the shore. Other survivors were recovered by U.S. sailors in small boats.[14]
Notes
- ^ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, p. 385
- ^ Nofi describes the concentration of the squadron, pp. 78–80
- ^ Nofi recounts the concentration of the squadron and its transatlantic voyage, pp. 82–85
- ^ Nofi, p. 85
- ^ See Nofi, pp. 85–86, for an account of Cervera's voyage in the Caribbean.
- ^ Hit and damage reported in Cervera's papers, p. 101
- ^ Nofi discusses the Naval Brigade, pp. 146, 172
- ^ See Cervera's plan in Nofi, pp. 172–173
- ^ Nofi, pp. 173–176
- ^ Nofi, pp. 179–180
- ^ Damage reported in "Report of the Furor" in Cervera's papers, pp. 132–133
- ^ See "Report of the Furor" in Cervera's papers, pp. 132–133
- ^ See "Report of the Furor" in Cervera's papers, pp. 132–133
- ^ Nofi, p. 183
References
- Cervera, Pascual, Ed. Office of Naval Intelligence War Notes No. VII: Information From Abroad. The Spanish–American War: A Collection of Documents Relative to the Squadron Operations in the West Indies Arranged by Rear-Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete, Translated from the Spanish. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1899.
- 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: Torpedo-Boat Destroyers Furor, Pluton, and Terror
- Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Spanish Navy Ships: Furor (Destroyer, 1896–1898)