The Canarias was a 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...

 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...

. She was designed in the 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...

 and was a modified version of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

's County class cruiser

County class cruiser

The County class was a class of heavy cruisers built for the British Royal Navy in the years between the First and Second World Wars. They were the first post-war cruiser construction for the Royal Navy and were designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Conference of 1922...

. She was built in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval

Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval

From 1909 up until the Spanish Civil War, the naval construction in Spain was monopolized by the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval - also Spanish Society for Naval Construction was largely owned by the British , and therefore almost all ships were designed after Royal Navy vessels...

. She saw service 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 Canarias was the flagship of the Nationalist Navy and sank 34 ships including the Republican destroyer Almirante Ferrándiz

Spanish destroyer Almirante Ferrándiz

Almirante Ferrándiz was a Churruca-class destroyer in the Spanish Navy. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the government side.She was named in honor of José Ferrándiz y Niño, a Spanish Admiral and former Navy Minister.-History:...

 during the battle of Cape Espartel

Battle of Cape Espartel

The Battle of Cape Espartel was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar, securing the naval supply route to Spanish Morocco for the Nationalists early in the war...

, and the Soviet merchant Komsomol off Oran

Oran

Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...

, both on the second half of 1936.