Spanish ironclad Vitoria

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Vitoria in Mahón, c. 1885
History
Armada Española EnsignSpain
NameVitoria
NamesakeBattle of Vitoria
OrderedDecember 1860
BuilderThames Ironworks, Blackwall, London
Laid downJanuary 1862
Launched4 November 1865
CompletedMay 1867
CommissionedFebruary 1868
Stricken1912
FateScrapped, 1912
General characteristics (as built)
Type
Broadside ironclad
Displacement7,250 t (7,140 long tons)
Length96.8 m (317 ft 7 in)
Beam17.3 m (56 ft 9 in)
Draft7.7 m (25 ft)
Installed power
  • 8
    boilers
  • 4,500 
    kW
    )
Propulsion1 shaft, 1
trunk steam engine
Sail plan
Ship rig
Speedabout 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Range2,400 nmi (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement561
Armament
Armor

The Spanish ironclad Vitoria was an iron-hulled

coast-defense ship, although she served as a training ship until she was scrapped
in 1912.

Design and description

Plan and right-elevation drawing of Vitoria; the shaded areas show armor protection

Vitoria was 96.8 meters (317 ft 7 in) long at the waterline, had a beam of 17.3 meters (56 ft 9 in) and a draft of 7.7 meters (25 ft 3 in).[1] She displaced 7,250 metric tons (7,135 long tons).[2] Her crew consisted of 561 officers and enlisted men.[1]

The ship was fitted with a

ship rig with a sail area of around 1,800–1,900 square meters (19,000–20,000 sq ft).[6]

The frigate's

Hontoria 160 mm and eight Canet 140-millimeter (5.5 in) rifled breech-loading guns and a pair of 354-millimeter (14 in) torpedo tubes.[5][7]

Vitoria had a complete wrought iron waterline belt of 140 mm armor plates. Above the belt, the guns, except for the chase gun, were protected by 130 millimeters (5.1 in) of armor. The ends of the ship and the deck were unarmored.[5][4]

Construction and career

Named after the 1813 victory at the

laid down at their shipyard in Blackwall, London, the following month.[1] The ship was launched on 4 November 1865,[5] completed in May 1867[8] and commissioned in February 1868.[1]

Vitoria participated in the Cantonal rebellion, initially on the side of the rebels. Shortly after the Cantonists seized

Vice Admiral Hastings Yelverton, who in turn sent them to the British port at Gibraltar. Both vessels were then returned to the Spanish government, which put them back into service. Vitoria became the flagship of the Spanish commander, Admiral Lobo.[10]

Vitoria took part in the

casemate ship Méndez Núñez, which also turned to flee. Vitoria's pursuit was blocked by the arrival of the French ironclad Thétis. Vitoria then engaged the third rebel ironclad, Tetuán, exchanging broadsides at close range, though neither vessel was seriously damaged in the encounter. The rebel attempt to break through the blockade ended in failure. Two days later, they again put to sea, but Lobo declined to engage and instead took Vitoria off to the east.[11]

On 1 January 1874, Vitoria fired at the British steamship Ellen Constance as she was leaving Cartagena. Although Ellen Constance hove to, she was rammed and sunk by Vitoria with the loss of three of her crew.[12][13][14][15] The collision was blamed on poor seamanship by the Spanish sailors and not thought to be a deliberate act.[16]

As Cartagena was in the process of surrendering, Numanica evaded the blockading force on the night of 12 January and sought refuge in the port of

Rear Admiral Nicolas Chicarro, commander of the government ships, on 18 January. Vitoria and the monitor Puigcerdá bombarded various rebel-controlled towns during the later stages of the Third Carlist War of 1872–1876.[17]

During Vitoria's reconstruction as a

central-battery ironclad[1] by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée at its La Seyne-sur-Mer shipyard[5] in 1896–1898, her sailing rig was replaced by a pair of pole masts.[2] She was reclassified as a coast-defense ship in 1899[1] and served as a training ship until she was broken up in 1912.[2]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f de Saint Hubert, p. 23
  2. ^ a b c d Silverstone, p. 388
  3. ^ Spanish Ironclads Numancia and Vitoria, p. 287
  4. ^ a b de Saint Hubert, pp. 22–23
  5. ^ a b c d e Lyon, p. 380
  6. ^ de Saint Hubert, pp. 22, 24
  7. ^ de Saint Hubert, pp. 27–28
  8. ^ a b Silverstone, p. 395
  9. ^ Greene & Massignani, pp. 279–280
  10. ^ O'Shea, p. 706
  11. ^ O'Shea, p. 707
  12. ^ "Sinking of a British Steamer". The Times. No. 27897. London. 12 January 1874. col A, p. 5.
  13. ^ "The Siege of Carthagena". Pall Mall Gazette. No. 2778 (Second ed.). London. 10 January 1874. p. 8. Retrieved 21 May 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Shipping". Liverpool Mercury. No. 8106. Liverpool. 12 January 1874.
  15. ^ "MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT—THE "ELLEN CONSTANCE" AND THE "VITTORIA."—QUESTION.". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. 17 April 1874. col. 711.
  16. ^ "The Sinking of a British Steamer by a Spanish Ironclad". Bradford Observer. Vol. 61, no. 3452. Bradford. 21 January 1874. p. 4.
  17. ^ Greene & Massignani, p. 281

References

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