Manuel de Camara

Manuel de Camara was a rear admiral of the Spanish Navy during the Spanish-American War.

Immediately after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in April 1898, the Spanish Navy ordered major units of its fleet to concentrate at Cadiz to form the 2nd Squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral Manuel de Camara. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/pelayo.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Pelayo"] ] One mission of the squadron, in the absence of any other direction, was to guard the Spanish coast against raids by the United States Navy.

On 1 May 1898, the Spanish Navy's squadron in the Philippines under Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasaron was destroyed by the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey in the Battle of Manila Bay. The Spanish Ministry of Marine began to consider options for redressing the situation there. Two of Spain's most powerful warships, the battleship "Pelayo" and the brand-new armored cruiser "Emperador Carlos V" were not available when the war began, the former undergoing reconstruction in a French shipyard and the latter not yet delivered from her builders. But both were rushed into service and assigned to Camara's squadron. [ Nofi, p. 58 ]

On 15 June 1898, Camara finally received his orders: He was to sail immediately for the Philippines, escorting a convoy carrying 4,000 Spanish Army troops for reinforcement of the Philippines, and destroy Dewey's squadron there. [ Nofi. p.168 ] His orders directed him to depart Cadiz with "Pelayo", "Emperador Carlos V", auxiliary cruisers "Patriota" and "Rapido", destroyers "Audaz", "Osado", and "Proserpina", and transports "Buenos Aires", "Panay", "Alfonso XII", and "Antonio Lopez", and four colliers. He was to detach "Alfonso XII" and "Antonio Lopez" near Gibraltar after dark so that they could proceed to the Caribbean, then take the rest of his force to the Philippines via Gibraltar, Port Said, Suez, Socotra (at which point the colliers were to be detached to return to Cartagena), the Laccadive Islands, and Ceylon. After that, he was told to coal either along the coast of Sumatra or in Singapore or Batavia, and then either make an optional stop at Labuan, Borneo, or proceed directly to Mindanao. Once in the Philippines, he was to disperse (to places such as Balabac, Jolo, Basilan, and Zamboanga) or concentrate his squadron as best he saw fit to ensure safe arrival of the troops and then deal with Dewey's squadron. [ Cervera's papers, p. 151-154 ]

Camara sortied from Cadiz on 16 June 1898, [ Nofi, p. 273 ] passed Gibraltar on 17 June 1898 [ Nofi, p. 168 ] (first detaching "Alfonso XII" and "Antonio Lopez" for their independent voyages to the Caribbean as ordered), and arrived at Port Said on 26 June 1898. [ Cervera's papers, p. 154 ] There he requested permission to transship coal, which the Egyptian government finally denied on 30 June 1898 out of concern for Egyptian neutrality. [ Cervera's papers, p. 154 ]

By the time Camara's squadron arrived at Suez on 5 July 1898, [ Nofi, p. 282 ] the squadron of Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete had been annihilated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, freeing up the U.S. Navy's heavy forces from the blockade of Santiago de Cuba. Fearful for the security of the Spanish coast, the Spanish Ministry of Marine recalled Camara's squadron on 7 July 1898. [ Nofi, p. 283 ] Camara departed Suez on 11 July 1898 for Spain, where the 2nd Squadron was dissolved on 25 July 1898. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/pelayo.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Pelayo"] ]

Notes

References

*Cervera Y Topete, Pascual. "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, Translated From the Spanish". Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1899.
*Nofi, Albert A. "The Spanish-American War, 1898". Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Combined Books, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0938289578.

External links

* [http://www.spanamwar.com/pelayo.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Pelayo"]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-ag/buenos-a.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected
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