The Auxiliary cruiser Mar Negro was an armed merchantman of the Nationalist Spanish navy during the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

. The cargo ship was launched in 1930 along with her sister ship Mar Cantábrico, and after five years on the Compañía Marítima Del Nervión company, she was first requisitioned by the Republican navy in 1936. Captured by a group of Nationalist sympathizers from her crew off Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

 in 1937, she entered in service in 1938 after being converted to an auxiliary cruiser.

Civilian career

The Mar Negro was built in 1930 along with her sister ship. She was a 6,632-ton motor vessel and was part of a series of four ships of different tonnage. Two of them were 4,700-ton steamers (Mar Blanco and Mar Caribe), while Mar Negro and Mar Cantábrico were propelled by two diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

s. The merchantmen were owned by the Compañía Marítima del Nervión, based at Bilbao

Bilbao

Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

. The cargo vessels were engaged in trade between Spain and US ports at the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

. Both of them would ended up as auxiliary cruisers of the Nationalist navy.

Under Republican flag

At the beginning of the war in 1936, Mar Negro was moored at Barcelona, a city which remained under the control of the Government. She was fitted out as a troop transport, and was one of the Republican ships which took part of the ill-fated landing on Mallorca on August 1936. Months later, she became involved in the maritime traffic between the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and the Spanish Republic

Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....

, and survived the attack of an Italian submarine.

Career as Nationalist auxiliary cruiser

In September 1937, the ship, bound to Barcelona from Odessa

Odessa

Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

, was diverted by her captain and part of the crew towards Cagliari

Cagliari

Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...

, Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

, where the Nationalist had an improvised naval base with the support of Fascist Italy

Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)

The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...

. After seeing some activity as a supply ship, the merchant was converted into a naval unit at the same shipyard where she and her sister had been built, the SECN facilities on the Nervion

Nervión

The river Nervión runs through the city of Bilbao, Spain into the Cantabrian Sea .It is also known as Estuary of Bilbao on its final tract, from the joining with Ibaizabal river to the sea.-Geography:...

 river, near Bilbao. She was equipped with four 152 mm main guns, four 88 mm, four 47 mm Armstrong

Ordnance QF 3 pounder Vickers

The Ordnance QF 3 pounder Vickers was a British artillery piece first tested in Britain in 1910. It was used on Royal Navy warships. It was more powerful than and unrelated to the older QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss, with a propellant charge approximately twice as large, but it initially fired the same...

, three 20 mm Scotti

Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/77 (Scotti)

The Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/77 was a 20 mm anti-aircraft gun produced by the Scotti company in Italy and used by that country in World War II. It used the 20x138mmB cartridge.- History :...

 and three depth-charge launchers. Completed on May 1938, the auxiliary cruiser joined the maritime blockade on Republican ports in the Mediterranean. Between 19 and 22 December 1939, the Mar Negro seized three Greek steamers in short succession near the channel of Sicily; the tanker Atlas, and the freighters Aris and Oropus, without opposition of non-intervention forces.

She landed the 105 Infantry division on Mahon

Mahon

Mahón is a municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca , located in the eastern part of the island. Mahon has the second deepest natural harbor in the world: 5 km long and up to 900m. wide...

, Minorca

Minorca

Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....

, after the Republican surrender of this island, on 9 February 1939, with the support of the minelayer Jupiter

Jupiter class minelayer

Jupiter Class minelayers was a group of four vessels of the Spanish Navy built during the Spanish Republic. Three of them came into service during the Civil War after joining the rebel side.-Civil War:...

.

After the fall of Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, she led a naval parade off Tarragona

Tarragona

Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...

 with General Franco

Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

 aboard on 22 February 1939.

She took part of the aborted landing on Cartagena

Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...

 on 6 March, when she assisted the Mar Cantábrico in the rescue of a German flying boat damaged by Republican aircraft and the capture of an armed tug.

End of the war

On 8 March 1939, Franco’s government decreed a ban on shipping around three miles from the coast of Levante

Levante, Spain

The Levante is a name used to refer to the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It roughly corresponds to the former Xarq Al-Andalus, but has no modern geopolitical definition...

, between the ports of Adra

Adra, Spain

-Culture in Adra:Adra Museum, Visitors can spend their free time in the three exhibition halls of the museum, which show the cultural legacy of the Phoenician, Punic and Roman civilizations, and which educate and entertain at the same time. Important exhibitions of national prestige are...

 and Sagunto

Sagunto

Sagunto or Sagunt is an ancient city in Eastern Spain, in the modern fertile comarca of Camp de Morvedre in the province of Valencia. It is located in a hilly site, c. 30 km north of Valencia, close to the Costa del Azahar on the Mediterranean Sea...

. After objections from the British government, the Nationalists soften this declaration by replacing the word “ban” for “restrictions” to shipping. Admiral Moreno, commander in chief of the Nationalist fleet, also played down the scale of the operation during a private meeting with the British consul at Palma de Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...

. Indeed, the Nationalist deployment was reduced to submarine patrols around Cartagena

Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...

 and the presence of an auxiliary cruiser and a destroyer off Valencia. In the last case, there was a rotation between the auxiliary cruiser Mar Cantábrico and Mar Negro and the old destroyers Ceuta and Melilla.

Incident with HMS Sussex

On 16 March 1939, two incidents between the Mar Negro and the British heavy cruiser

Heavy cruiser

The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...

 HMS Sussex

HMS Sussex (96)

HMS Sussex was one of the London sub-class of the County-class heavy cruisers in the Royal Navy. She was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 1 February 1927, launched on 22 February 1928 and completed on 19 March 1929.-Mediterranean, Australia and...

 took place off Valencia, with the result of a British steamer captured and another damaged. The Spanish auxiliary cruiser also suffered some scratches on her stern in the aftermath.

The Mar Negro and the Italian-built WWI destroyer

Marasti class destroyer

The Mărăști class were a group of destroyers built in Italy for the Romanian Navy. The ships fought in both world wars but for different owners and had a complex history.-History:...

 Melilla were enforcing the blockade outside Valencia’s port. Shortly before the departure of Melilla back to Palma for refueling, they spotted a cargo ship steaming for Valencia. She was the British freighter Stangate, of 1,289 ton. At 10:00 AM, while clearing for action, the cruiser’s commander warned the vessel that she will be fired on if she enters Spanish waters. Apparently ignoring the threat, Stangate was within the three miles limit by 10:30. The vessel was maneuvering near the beach of Saler, where the Republicans had mounted a 381 mm battery, which kept silent during the incident. Then Mar Negro’s commander ordered the merchantman to stop, but her captain steered to the east, toward international waters. The Stangate eventually came to a stop outside the three miles, approximately at 39°22′36"N 0°15′17"W. At the same time, the British cruiser HMS Sussex appeared on scene. Mar Negro´s commander reacted quickly: a prize crew

Prize crew

Prize crew is a term used to indicate a number of crew members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship.In the early days of sailing and up into the American Civil War, capturing enemy ships was quite common...

 of 13 men was dispatched by boat to board the British cargo ship, after the auxiliary cruiser got close to the Stangate. The merchant was then taken under control by the Nationalist warship. Sussex’s commander requested an explanation regarding the position of Stangate at the time of her capture, and sent a party on board the British vessel. The officer in charge of the party, after realising that the ship was now manned by the Spaniards, communicated the news to his superior, who eventually conceded the capture. The Stangate was then driven to Palma by the prize crew at 2:00 PM. During the evening of that day, while on patrol off Sagunto, the Mar Negro spotted another British steamer, the Stanhope, just outside territorial waters. Nevertheless, the Mar Negro ordered the ship to stop, on the basis that the merchant had departed from Valencia, thus breaching the restrictions on shipping around the three miles zone. The captain of the merchantman refused to submit, and made a distress call to HMS Sussex. A stand-off ensued, which ended abruptly at 8:30 PM when the British cargo, according to the Spanish version, attempted to ram Mar Negro. The Nationalist warship maneuvered to port to avoid the collision, but the port bow of the merchant bounced her port quarter off. The incident resulted in some damaged on both ships. All units involved fled the scene afterwards, the Stanhope with the help of HMS Sussex.

The Mar Negro was also mentioned in the House of Commons on 20 March 1939 in connection with the confinement of seven British subjects on board the cruiser. They were members of the crew of the small British steamer Stangrove, of 550 ton. The vessel had been captured in February off Cap de Creus

Cap de Creus

Cap de Creus is a peninsula and a headland located at the far NE of Catalonia, some 25 km south from the French border. The nearest town is Figueres, capital of the Alt Empordà and birthplace of Salvador Dalí...

 by the Nationalist gunboat Dato, which was patrolling Catalonia’s coast from Palamos

Palamós

Palamós is a town and municipality in the Mediterranean Costa Brava, located in the comarca of Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain....

 to the French border assisted by the minelayer Vulcano

Jupiter class minelayer

Jupiter Class minelayers was a group of four vessels of the Spanish Navy built during the Spanish Republic. Three of them came into service during the Civil War after joining the rebel side.-Civil War:...

. The Stangrove was sent first to Barcelona and then to Palma, where she was lost under suspicious circumstances, wrecked by a gale. Her master, Captain William Richards, died in the incident. The ship was saved by the Spanish right after the war, and subsequently renamed Castilla del Oro and later Condestable. The Stangate was the last merchantman captured at high seas during the Spanish civil war. The cargo ship and her crew were held by the Spanish authorities several weeks after the end of the war at Palma, where she remained under the supervision of the British consul until her release.

Fall of Gandía

On 25 March 1939, Mar Negro rotated duties with her sister ship Mar Cantábrico as usual. Meanwhile, on the political front, secret negotiations between Franco and Colonel Casado

Segismundo Casado

Segismundo Casado López was a Spanish Army officer in the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.-Early life:...

, a Republican leader who had taken control of the government after a coup against the communist party, were going on. These talks included the mediation of the British consul at Valencia, Mr. Godden. Franco gave unwritten assurances that he will not ordered the occupation of Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 to his army before the main Republican anti-communist leader came to exile. The agreement also implied the evacuation by sea of a large number of Republican sympathizers from the port of Gandia

Gandia

Gandia is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar, 65 km south of Valencia and 96 km north of Alicante....

, south of Valencia. The British manager of this port, a Mr. Apfel, was a key figure in the rescue of refugees, who were taken a board the British cruisers HMS Galatea

HMS Galatea (71)

HMS Galatea was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. , with the keel being laid down on the 2 June 1933...

 and HMS Sussex, as well as the hospital ship Maine and several freighters. Conversely, the deal allowed the repatriation of Italian prisoners still held by the Republicans in British ships bounded for Palma. Indeed, just hours before her replacement by Mar Negro, the Mar Cantábrico stopped and searched the London-registered Stanland, but following orders from the Nationalist high command the auxiliary cruiser allowed her to proceed to Valencia.

On 26 March there were three minor incidents with units of the French navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

, and on the 27 the cruiser successfully protected a Nationalist flying boat which was being chased by the still active Republican air force. The enemy aircraft were forced to disengage by the 88 mm guns of the Mar Negro. On 29 March, the cruiser headed for Gandía, where the evacuation sanctioned by Franco was taking place. After the last refugee was on board the British vessels, a party of 22 men, led by the 2º commander of the Mar Negro landed in a boat. They took control of the port and the hulls of the Spanish steamer Vicente, of 534 ton, the British Dellwyn of 1,420 and a dredger, all of them sunk in shallow waters. The cargo ships were later raised and put in service under Spanish Nationalist flag, the Dellwyn under the name Castillo Montesa. Before returning to Gandía and get some time to rest, the auxiliary cruiser made a full reconnaissance of the small ports of Denia

Dénia

Dénia is a city in the province of Alicante, Spain, on the Costa Blanca halfway between Alicante and Valencia, the judicial seat of the comarca of Marina Alta...

 and Jávea

Xàbia

Xàbia is a coastal town located in the comarca of Marina Alta, in the province of Alicante, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. Situated behind a wide bay and sheltered between two rocky headlands, the town has become a very popular small seaside resort and market town.-Geography:Xàbia is situated in...

. On 31 March they informed to the British consul, after a request by the commander of HMS Galatea, that all Spanish ports were open to British shipping. The Mar Negro eventually returned to civilian service on October 1939, seven months after the war was over.