Spanish destroyer Terror
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (July 2012) ) |
Terror in front of Larache in 1911
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History | |
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Spain | |
Name | Terror |
Namesake | Spanish word for "terror" |
Builder | Thomson, later Clydebank |
Laid down | 9 February 1896 |
Launched | 28 August 1896 |
Completed | 20 November 1896 |
Fate | Scrapped 1924 |
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) |
Terror was a Furor-class destroyer of the Spanish Navy that fought at San Juan, Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. Constructed in the United Kingdom, the ship entered service in 1896 and was significantly damaged at the Second Battle of San Juan in 1898. In 1920, the destroyer was converted to a minelayer and discarded in 1924.
Technical characteristics
Terror was built in the United Kingdom by
Operational history
As tensions between Spain and the United States grew in early 1898, Terror was part of the
The Spanish–American War began while Terror 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, Terror 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, Terror 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.
While the other ships loitered in international waters, Furor and Terror went into Fort-de-France to ask for coal. France was neutral and would not supply coal. Moreover, the American auxiliary cruiser USS Harvard had just left port, and French officials announced that in accordance with international law and France's neutrality, the destroyers, as belligerents, could not leave port until 48 hours after Harvard had left, i.e., on 13 May 1898. Terror had become immobilized with engine problems, so the destroyer flotilla commander, Captain Fernando Villaamil, took Furor out in the harbor on 12 May 1898 under the ruse of testing her engines, then successfully made a dash out into international waters 24 hours early. Cervera's squadron steamed on, leaving Terror behind. Terror soon got her engines running and was released by the French authorities. She made for San Juan, Puerto Rico, arriving there on 17 May 1898.
Little happened for a month, until the
Terror spent the rest of the war under repair at San Juan. Repairs were completed on 14 September 1898, a month after the war ended, and she returned to Spain.
Around 1920, Terror was equipped for
References
- Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Eds. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York City: Mayflower Books Inc., 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Gray, Randal, Ed. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
- 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: Terror (Destroyer, 1896–1925)