Spanish battleship Pelayo
Encyclopedia
Pelayo was a battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
of the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
which served in the Spanish fleet from 1888 to 1925. For many years, she was the most powerful unit of the Spanish Navy.
Technical Characteristics
Ordered in November 1884, Pelayo was built at La Seyne in France. Her keel was laid in April 1885, and she was launched on 5 February 1887 and completed in the summer of 1888. She was originally intended to be the first of a new class of battleships, but a crisis with the German EmpireGerman Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
in 1890 led to the cancellation of these plans and the diversion of funds to the construction of the Infanta Maria Teresa-class
Infanta Maria Teresa class armored cruiser
The Infanta Maria Teresa class of three armored cruisers were built for the Spanish Navy between 1889 and 1893. All three were sunk in action against the United States Navy during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba in 1898.-Description:...
armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
s. Pelayo was viewed as too slow and having too little coal endurance for colonial service, and ended up being the only member of her class.
The design of Pelayo was based on that of the French battleship Marceau, modified to give her a draft that was 3 feet (0.9 m) shallower so tha she could transit the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
at full load displacement. Originally equipped with sails, she had them deleted soon after completion. She had two funnels. Her 16 centimetres (6.3 in) gun was a bow chaser. Her armor belt was 6 feet 11 inches (2.1 m) wide amidships and extended 2 feet (0.6 m) above and almost 5 feet (1.5 m) below the waterline. Internally, had French-style cellular construction with 13 watertight bulkheads ad a double bottom.
She was a barbette ship, an ancestor of the modern battleship with the main battery mounted in open barbettes on armored rotating platforms, in contrast to the heavy, self-contained turrets of the day which the design of modern battleships were soon to abandon. Her main guns could be loaded in any position, and consisted of two Gonzalez Hontoria-built 32 centimetres (12.6 in) guns mounted fore and aft on the centerline and two Gonzalez Hontoria 28 centimetres (11 in) guns, also in barbettes, with one mounted on either beam
Pelayo was reconstructed at La Seyne in 1897-1898, receiving armor for her midships battery and having her 16 centimetres (6.3 in) and 12 centimetres (4.7 in) guns replaced by 14 centimetres (5.5 in) pieces, one mounted as a bow chaser and the rest on the broadside. However, the installation of these new guns was disrupted and delayed when she was rushed back into service after the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
began.
During a major refit in 1910, her torpedo tubes were removed.
Operational history
Pelayo spent her early years in Spanish waters, showing the flag in various naval reviews and exhibitions, notably in GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 1891, at Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Italy, in 1892, and Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, Germany, in 1895.
She began a reconstruction at La Seyne in 1897, and was there when the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
broke out in April 1898. She was rushed back into service with her old 16 centimetres (6.3 in) and 12 centimetres (4.7 in) guns removed but her new 14 centimetres (5.5 in) guns not yet mounted, and entered service with the Reserve Squadron on 14 May 1898.
She remained in Spanish waters for a month to guard against United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
raids against the Spanish coast. She then was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Manuel de Camara
Manuel de Camara
Manuel de la Cámara y Libermoore was a rear admiral of the Spanish Navy during the Spanish-American War.Immediately after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in April 1898, the Spanish Navy ordered major units of its fleet to concentrate at Cadiz to form the 2nd Squadron, under the command of...
, which was to steam to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and defeat the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron, which had controlled Philippine waters since defeating the Spanish squadron of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasaron in the Battle of Manila Bay.
Camara's squadron—consisting of Pelayo, armored cruiser Emperador Carlos V, auxiliary cruisers Patriota and Rapido, destroyers Audaz, Osado, and Prosepina, and transports Buenos Aires and Panay -- sortied from Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
on 16 June 1898, passing Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
on 17 June 1898. It arrived at Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, on 26 June 1898, and requested permission to transship coal, which the Egyptian government finally denied on 30 June 1898 out of concern for Egyptian neutrality.By the time Camara's squadron arrived at Suez
Suez
Suez is a seaport city in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez , near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
on 5 July 1898, the squadron of Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete
Pascual Cervera y Topete
Pascual Cervera y Topete served as an admiral of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron during the Spanish-American War, and prior to this served his country in a variety of military and political roles....
had been annihilated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba
Battle of Santiago de Cuba
The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, fought between Spain and the United States on 3 July 1898, was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Navy's Caribbean Squadron.-Spanish Fleet:...
, freeing up the U.S. Navy's heavy forces from the blockade of Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
. Fearful for the security of the Spanish coast, the Spanish Ministry of Marine recalled Camara's squadron on 7 July 1898, and Pelayo returned to Spain, where Camara's 2nd Squadron was dissolved on 25 July 1898. Pelayo spent the last month of the war in Spanish waters, and thus missed combat.
After the war, she resumed her duty of showing the flag, attending naval reviews in Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, France, in 1901 and in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and Vigo Bay, Spain, in 1904. But the Spanish Navy found it difficult to find a role for Pelayo, which had no similar ships with which to operate. There was thought of having her operate with Spain's new dreadnoughts when they began to commission during the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
era, but by then she was too old and slow to be compatible with them. She thus earned the nickname Solitario, meaning "solitary" or "single-handed" and in Pelayos case meaning "Individualist."
Pelayo fired her guns in anger only once, when she bombarded Moroccan insurgents in 1909 during the second Rif War
Rif War (1909)
The Second Melillan campaign was a conflict in 1909 and 1910 in Morocco around Melilla. The fighting involved local Rifains and the Spanish Army.- Prelude :...
.
Pelayo underwent a major refit in 1910. In 1912, she was badly damaged in Fonduko Bay due to a navigational error. She was repaired, but thereafter served as a training ship, including service in 1920 and 1921 as a gunnery training ship in the Training Division.
Pelayo was disarmed in 1923 and scrapped in 1925.