Spanish cruiser Rapido (1889)

"Rapido" was a merchant ship requisitioned for use as an auxiliary cruiser by the Spanish Navy in 1898 during the Spanish-American War.

"Rapido" was built in 1889 as a passenger ship and was in commercial service as SS "Columbia" with the Hamburg-Amerika Line when the Spanish Navy purchased her for Spanish-American War service as an auxiliary cruiser in 1898 [ [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-mr/rapido.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected
] ] . Armed and renamed "Rapido", she became part of the relief expedition for the Philippines commanded by Rear Admiral Manuel de Camara and charged with destroying the United States Navy Asiatic Squadron of Commodore George Dewey there, as well as with delivering 4,000 Spanish Army troops to reinforce the Philippines. [ Nofi. p.168 ] . Camara's squadron -- consisting of battleship "Pelayo", armored cruiser "Emperador Carlos V", auxiliary cruiser "Patriota", destroyers "Audaz", "Osado", and "Proserpina", and transports "Buenos Aires", "Panay", "Alfonso XII", and "Antonio Lopez", and four colliers as well as "Rapido" -- sortied from Cadiz on 16 June 1898. [ Nofi, p. 273 ]

"Rapido" and her consorts passed Gibraltar on 17 June 1898 [ Nofi, p. 168 ] (first detaching "Alfonso XII" and "Antonio Lopez" to make independent voyages to the Caribbean), and arrived at Port Said, Egypt on 26 June 1898. [ Cervera's papers, p. 154 ] There Camara 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 "Rapido" and the rest of 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 ] "Rapido" and the rest of the squadron departed Suez on 11 July 1898 for Spain, and Camara's squadron was dissolved on 25 July 1898. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/pelayo.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Pelayo"] ]

After the war ended in August 1898, "Rapido" returned to commercial service. Durng the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, she became the Russian Navy auxiliary cruiser "Terek". She was scrapped in 1907. [ [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-mr/rapido.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected
] ] .

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