Spanish gunboat General Concha

"General Concha" was a "General Concha"-class gunboat of the Spanish Navy which fought at San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the Spanish-American War.

Technical Characteristics

"General Concha" was built at the naval shipyard at Ferrol in Spain. She was launched in 1883. She had an iron hull, one funnel, and a light schooner rig. She and the lead ship of a class of four gunboats.

Operational History

When the Spanish-American War began in April 1898, "General Concha" was at San Juan, Puerto Rico. The U.S. Navy established a permament blockade of San Juan on 18 June 1898.

On 22 June 1898,"General Concha", cruiser "Isabel II", and destroyer "Terror" came out of port to test the blockade, resulting in the Second 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.

On 24 June 1898, "General Concha", "Isabel II] ", and gunboat "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.

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.