Spanish cruiser Vizcaya

"Vizcaya", was an "Infanta Maria Teresa"-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

Technical Characteristics

"Vizcaya" was built at Bilbao, Spain. She was laid down in 1889, launched on 8 July 1891, and completed in 1893. [ [http://www.spanamwar.com/vizcaya.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Vizcaya"] ] She had two funnels and was fast and well armed. Her main armament was mounted on the center line in single barbettes fore and aft. Her armor was poor: her 11-inch guns had only lightly armored hoods, her 5.5-inch guns were mounted in the open on the upper deck, her armor belt was thin and protected only two-thirds of her length, and she had a high, unprotected freeboard that took much damage during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. Like other nineteenth-century warships, she was heavily furnished and decorated with wood, which the Spanish failed to remove prior to combat and which would feed fires during the battle. [ "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 382 ]

Operational History

"Vizcaya" was visiting New York City on a "friendly" visit to reciprocate for the visit of battleship USS "Maine" to Havana, Cuba, when "Maine" exploded and sank at Havana on 15 February 1898. "Vizcaya" then steamed to Havana, where she rendezvoused with her sister ship "Almirante Oquendo". Ordered back across the Atlantic as war approached, both ships was assigned to the Spanish Navy's 1st Squadron, which was concentrating at Sao Vicente in Portugal's Cape Verde Islands under Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete. They arrived at Sao Vicente on 19 April 1898. It was noted that "Vizcaya" badly needed drydocking because of a badly fouled bottom, her 5.5-inch guns had defective breach mechanisms and had been supplied with defective ammunition, and the fleet had a shortage of stokers.

and began a blockade which would drag on for 37 days.

Some action occurred during the blockade. On 3 June 1898, the U.S. Navy steamed the collier USS "Merrimac" into the entrance channel to the harbor, hoping to scuttle her so as to block the channel and trap the Spanish ships inside. Spanish shore batteries already had disabled "Merrimac" when she drifted up the channel to a point where the Spanish ships could fire on her as well. "Vizcaya", the unprotected cruiser "Reina Mercedes", and the destroyer "Pluton" all opened fire, and "Merrimac" quickly sank in a position that did not block the entrance.

The blockade wore on, with "Vizcaya" and the others enduring occasional American naval bombardments of the harbor. "Vizcaya" still had two 5.5-inch guns out of commission, 80 percent of the 5.5-inch ammunition was defective, and nothing could be done under the circumstances about her terribly fouled bottom. Some of her men joined others from the fleet in a Naval Brigade to fight against a U.S. Army overland drive toward Santiago de Cuba.

By the beginning of July 1898, that drive threatened to capture Santiago de Cuba, and Cervera decided that his squadron's only hope was to try to escape into the open sea by running the blockade. The decision was made on 1 July 1898, with the break-out set for 3 July 1898. The crew of "Vizcaya" spent 2 July 1898 returning from Naval Brigade service and preparing for action. "Vizcaya" was to be the second ship in line during the escape, following Cervera's flagship "Infanta Maria Teresa"; while "Infanta Maria Teresa" sacrificed herself by attacking the fastest American ship, the armored cruiser USS "Brooklyn", "Vizcaya" and the others were to put on all the speed they could and run westward for the open sea.

At about 0845 hours on 3 July 1898, the Spanish ships got underway. The U.S. squadron sighted the Spanish ships in the channel at about 0935, and the Battle of Santiago de Cuba began.

While their squadron mates turned to starboard and put on steam for a run to the west behind them, "Vizcaya" followed "Infanta Maria Teresa" closely as she charged "Brooklyn" as if to ram. When "Brooklyn" turned away to the east, "Vizcaya" and "Infanta Maria Teresa" turned west, brushing past the last obstacle in their path, the armed yacht USS "Vixen".

"Vizcaya" now found herself back in the line-ahead formation the squadron had formed when it left its anchorage, in second place behind "Infanta Maria Teresa" and ahead of armored cruiser "Cristóbal Colón" and "Almirante Oquendo". At 1035, the sinking "Infanta Maria Teresa" was driven ashore with heavy damage and fires, and "Almirante Oquendo" soon suffered the same fate, running aground nearly abreast of "Vizcaya". Further inshore, the two Spanish destroyers also succumbed. By 1050, "Vizcaya" and "Cristóbal Colón" were the only Spanish ships left.

"Brooklyn" now focused on "Vizcaya", closing to a range of 950 yards (870 m) and pounding "Vizcaya" with numerous 8-inch (203-mm) and 5-inch (127-mm) shell hits, while battleships "Texas", "Iowa", "Oregon", and "Indiana" also scored hits. "Vizcaya" managed to score two 5.5-inch hits on "Brooklyn", killing the lone American sailor who died in the battle. But at about 1100, "Brooklyn" scored two punishing 8-inch (203-mm) hits on "Vizcaya"; one detonated a torpedo in her forward tube and blew a large part of her bow off, and the other knocked down her bridge and set her decorate woodwork and wooden furnishings on fire. When the fire began to cause ready ammunition for the secondary battery to explode, the end was clearly at hand for "Vizcaya". At 1106, she turned toward the shore, struck her battle ensign, and ran herself up on the beach.

Some of her sailors made it ashore, although they had to beware of Cuban insurgents, who began to shoot the survivors of the wrecked Spanish ships. Others were rescued by American sailors who brought small boats alongside the wrecks to take off survivors. One of those rescued was the commanding officer of "Vizcaya", Captain Don Antonio Eulate, who, when brought aboard "Iowa", looked at the burning wreck of his ship, raised his hand in salute, and called out "Adios, Vizcaya!" Immediately, as if on cue, the cruiser's forward magazines exploded.

Postwar, a U.S. Navy survey team evaluating Spanish wrecks for their potential for being raised and put in American service concluded that "Vizcaya" was beyond salvage.

Notes

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

* [http://www.spanamwar.com/vizcaya.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Vizcaya"]
* [http://www.spanamwar.com/oquendo.htm The Spanish-American War Centennial Website: "Almirante Oquendo"]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-ag/cr-colon.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected
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