Spanish cruiser Navarra

For the Nationalist ship of the Spanish Civil War, see Spanish cruiser Navarra (1923).

An Aragon-class (here called Castilla-class) cruiser in the 1880s or 1890s, showing the appearance of Navarra
Career
Name:	Navarra
Namesake:	The Kingdom of Navarre
Ordered:	January 1869
Builder:	Naval shipyard at Ferrol, Spain
Laid down:	May 1869
Launched:	August 1881
Completed:	1882
Commissioned:	1882
Fate:	Either was hulked in 1896 and sold for scrap in 1899[1] or became a cadet training ship in 1900[2]
General characteristics
Class and type:	Aragon-class
Type:	unprotected cruiser
Displacement:	3,289 tons
Length:	236 ft 0 in (71.93 m)
Beam:	44 ft 0 in (13.41 m)
Draft:	23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) maximum
Installed power:	1,400 ihp
Propulsion:	1-shaft, 3-cylinder, horizontal compound
Sail plan:	barque-rigged
Speed:	14 knots
Range:	2,180 nautical miles (4,037 km)
Complement:	392 officers and enlisted
Armament:	As completed, included 8 x 8 inch (203 mm) 180 pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns In 1885: 4 x 5.9 inch (150 mm) guns 2 × 4.7 inch (120 mm) breech-loading guns 2 x 87nbsp:mm guns 4 x 75 mm guns 10 x machine guns 2 × 14 inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	none
Notes:	460 tons of coal (normal)

Navarra was an Aragon-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy in the late 19th century.

Technical Characteristics

Navarra was built at Ferrol, Spain. Her construction as an armored corvette with a central battery ironclad design began in 1869, with plans to give her 890 tons of armor and 500 mm (19.7 inches) of armor at the waterline. In 1870, her design was changed to that of an unprotected cruiser or wooden corvette, and, after political events delayed her construction, she finally was launched in this form in 1881 and completed in 1882.^[1] Her original conception as an armored ship and the change to an unarmored one during construction left her with an overly heavy wooden hull that was obsolescent by the time of her launch.^[2]

Designed for colonial service,^[3] she had two funnels and was rigged as a barque.^[2] Her machinery was maufactured at the naval shipyard at Ferrol.^[3] The original main battery of Armstrong-built 8-inch (203-mm) guns was obsolescent when she was completed, and were quickly replaced with more modern Krupp-built guns, with the 5.9-inch guns mounted in sponsons.^[2]

Operational history

Navarra was commissioned in 1882. By the 1890s, she was assigned to the Cadiz Naval Group.^[3] Sources differ on her career after that; she either was hulked in 1896 and sold for scrap in 1899^[1] or survived the 1890s to become a cadet training ship in 1900 ^[2]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: Spanish Wooden Cruisers
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, p. 383
3. ^ ^{a b c} The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: Castilla explains the design of this class ship of ship being for colonial service.

References

• 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.
• Nofi, Albert A. The Spanish-American War, 1898. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania:Combined Books, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0938289578.

External links

• The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: Castilla
• The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: Spanish Wooden Cruisers
• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Spanish Navy Ships: Navarra (Cruiser, 1881-1899)