Emperador Carlos V

"Emperador Carlos V" was an armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy which served in the Spanish fleet from 1898 to 1933.

Technical characteristics

"Emperador Carlos V" was built at the naval shipyard at Cadiz in Spain, the largest ship built in Spanish yards in this era. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/carlosv.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Carlos V"] ] She was laid down in 1892, launched on 13 March 1895, and completed on 2 June 1898. She was the only member of her class. Her boilers and machinery were of Spanish construction, her armor German, her stern and stern post British, and her gun turrets. which were installed at Le Havre, France, in 1897, were French. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/carlosv.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Carlos V"] ] She had three funnels and was weakly armored, relying mostly on her armored deck for protection. Her 11-inch (280-mm) main guns were mounted fore and aft in center-line hooded barbettes. [ "Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 382 ] One of her strengths was considered to be her great steaming range. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/carlosV.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Carlos V"] ]

Operational history

"Emperador Carlos V" [The Naval Historical Center (at http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-ag/carlos-v.htm) says that her her name wass shortened to "Carlos V" before she was completed.] was brand new and not yet operational when the Spanish-American War broke out in April 1898, but she was rushed into service and assigned to the 2nd Squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Manuel de Camara. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/carlosV.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Carlos V"] ] This squadron was ordered to steam to the Philippines and defeat the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron, which had controlled Philippine waters since defeating the Spanish squadron of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasaron in the Battle of Manila Bay.

Camara's squadron -- consisting of "Emperador Carlos V", battleship "Pelayo", auxiliary cruisers "Patriota" and "Rapido", destroyers "Audaz", "Osado", and "Prosepina", and transports "Buenos Aires" and "Panay" -- sortied from Cadiz on 16 June 1898, passing Gibraltar on 17 June 1898. [ Nofi, p. 168 ] It arrived at Port Said, Egypt, on 26 June 1898, and 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 of the security of the Spanish coast, the Spanish Ministry of Marine recalled Camara's squadron on 7 July 1898, [ Nofi, p. 283 ] and "Emperador Carlos V" returned to Spain, where Camara's 2nd Squadron was dissolved on 25 July 1898. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/carlosV.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Carlos V"] ] "Emperador Carlos V" spent the last month of the war in Spanish waters, and thus missed combat.

After the war, "Emperador Carlos V" conducted cruises to show the flag, attending naval reviews in foreign countries, most notably including the coronation of King Edward VII of Great Britain in 1902. She was decommissioned in 1922, stricken in 1932, [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/carlosV.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Carlos V"] ] and scrapped in 1933. [ "Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 377 ]

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.
*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 0831703024.
*Gray, Randal, Ed. "Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921." Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0870219073.
*Nofi, Albert A. "The Spanish-American War, 1898". Conshohocken, Pennsylvania:Combined Books, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0938289578.

External links

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