- Spanish cruiser Isabel II
"Isabel II" was a "Velasco"-class unprotected
cruiser of theSpanish Navy that fought at San Juan,Puerto Rico , during theSpanish-American War .Technical Characteristics
"Isabel II" was built at the naval shipyard at
Ferrol . Her keel was laid in 1883, she was launched on19 February 1886 , and she was completed in 1888 or 1889. She had one rather tall funnel. She had an iron hull and was rigged as abarque . [ "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 383 ]Operational History
When the
Spanish-American War began in April 1898, "Isabel II" was at San Juan,Puerto Rico . TheU.S. Navy established a permanent blockade of San Juan on18 June 1898 . [ Nofi, p. 166 ]On
22 June 1898 , "Isabel II",gunboat "General Concha", anddestroyer "Terror" came out of port to test the blockade, resulting in theSecond Battle of San Juan (1898) . Auxiliary cruisers USS "St. Paul" and USS "Yosemite" moved in, resulting in a short, running gun battle, from which the Spanish quickly broke away. "Isabel II" and "General Concha" could go no faster than 10 knots; "Terror" made a torpedo run on "St. Paul" to cover their retreat, and was badly damaged by gunfire from "St. Paul", but all three Spanish ships made it back into port at San Juan. Two men had been killed aboard "Terror", the only casualties either side suffered during the battle. [ Nofi, p. 166 ]On
24 June 1898 , "Isabel II", "General Concha", andgunboat "Ponce de Leon" sortied to assist a Spanish blockade runner, the merchant steamer "Antonio Lopez", make it into San Juan's harbor. The three Spanish warships exchanged long-range gunfire with "St. Paul", "Yosemite", and cruiser USS "New Orleans", with neither side scoring any hits. When it became clear that "Antonio Lopez" would not be able to get past the Americans, the Spanish warships returned to port, where they spent the rest of the war. [ Nofi, p. 167 ]"Isabel II" returned to
Spain after the end of the war. She was stricken in 1907. [ "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921", p. 377 ]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.
*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.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-hl/isabel-2.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected
]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.