Spanish cruiser Aragon
Encyclopedia
Aragon was an Aragon-class
Aragon class cruiser
The Aragon class of unprotected cruisers was a series of three cruisers built between the late 1860s and early 1880s for service with the Spanish Navy...
unprotected cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
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...
in the late 19th century.
Technical Characteristics
Aragon was built at the naval shipyard at CartagenaCartagena, 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...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Her construction as an armored corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
with a central battery ironclad design began on 2 May 1869, with plans to give her 890 tons of armor and 500 mm (19.7 inches) of armor at the waterline. Political events delayed her construction. In 1870, her design was changed to that of an unprotected cruiser or wooden corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
, and she finally was launched in this form on 31 July 1879 and completed in 1880. Her original conception as an armored ship and the change to an unarmored one during construction left her with an overly heavy wooden hull that was obsolescent by the time of her launch.
Designed for colonial service, she had two funnels and was rigged as a barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
. Her machinery was manufactured by the John Penn Company of Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The original main battery of Armstrong
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
-built 8-inch (203-mm) guns was obsolescent when she was completed, and were quickly replaced with more modern Hontoria
Hontoria
Hontoria is one of 28 parishes in Llanes, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain.-Villages:* Cardoso * Hontoria* Villahormes...
-built 6.4-inch (163-mm) guns (a heavier main battery than that carried by her two sisters Castilla
Spanish cruiser Castilla
Castilla was an Aragon-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.-Technical characteristics:Castilla was built at Cadiz, Spain...
and Navarra
Spanish cruiser Navarra
Navarra was an Aragon-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy in the late 19th century.-Technical Characteristics:Navarra was built at Ferrol, Spain. Her construction as an armored corvette with a central battery ironclad design began in 1869, with plans to give her 890 tons of armor and...
), at least four of which were mounted in sponsons.
Operational history
In the 1890s, Aragon was assigned to the CadizCádiz
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....
Naval Group. She went out of service in the mid-1890s, became a floating hulk in 1896. Sources differ on her ultimate fate; either she was sold for scrap in 1900 or sticken ca. 1905