Canarias class cruiser

The "Canarias" class was a class of heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy. Two ships of the class were completed in the 1930s. They were designed in the United Kingdom and were modified versions of the Royal Navy's County class cruiser. They were built in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval. The two ships completed, "Canarias" and "Baleares", both saw service during the Spanish Civil War, the latter being sunk.

Design

The ships were ordered in 1926 and were based on the British County Class cruisers. The designer was Sir Phillip Watts. These ships had anti-torpedo bulges and a slightly narrower beam as well as more powerful machinery. The boiler rooms were re-arranged compared to the British design and trunked into a single massive funnel rather than three funnels used on the British cruisers. The Spanish ships had a stronger secondary armament and although the original design included a catapult for a seaplane this was never installed.

hips

Both ships were built by SECN in Ferrol

A thrid ship was projected but not ordered

Both completed ships were seized by the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War, both weree fitting out and were completed with makeshift fire control and secondary armament.

The Canarias was the flagship of the Nationalist Navy and sunk 34 ships including the Republican destroyer "Almirante Ferradiz" and damaged the destroyer "Jose Luis Diez". During World War 2 she helped search for survivors from the German Battleship Bismarck.

The Belares was completd without Y turret which was fitted in 1937. In September 1937 she fought in the Battle of Cape Cherchell. During a raid on Palma De Majorca in March 1938 she was intercepted by Republican destroyers and torpedoed by the Spanish destroyer Lepanto. The torpedoes detonated the forward magazines disintegrating the forward part of the ship. The stern half remained afloat and 372 of her crew of 765 were saved by British destroyers.

References

* [http://www.bismarck-class.dk/other_craft_involved/spanish_ship_involved/spanish_ship_involved.html "Canarias" specs at Bismarck site]
* Whitley MJ. Cruisers of World War 2 and international encyclopedia
* Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946