Spanish gunboat Marques del Duero
Encyclopedia
Marques del Duero was a Fernando el Catolico-class gunboat
of the Spanish Navy
which fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War
.
, or "aviso
", built by La Seyne in France
. She was laid down on 20 January 1875, launched on 3 May 1875, and completed the same year. She was designed to fight against the Carlists in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay
during the Third Carlist War
, patrolling off Carlist ports to intercept contraband and blockade the ports, and also providing despatch services between Spanish Navy
forces operating off vaious ports, hence her Spanish designation of aviso, meaning "warning." She had an iron hull with a very prominent ram bow, was coal-fired, was rigged as a schooner
, and could carry 89 tons of coal. She was reclassified as a third-class gunboat in 1895.
. She set out on her first operational deployment from Marseilles on 27 July 1875, heading for San Sebastián Bay
in northern Spain for blockade, patrol, and despatch duty. She served there beyond the end of the Third Carlist War
on 27 February 1876, finally leaving after Spanish naval forces there began to leave for postwar duties after 5 April 1876.
On 29 July 1876, Marques del Duero departed Spain for the Philippines
, where she was based at Zamboanga
, assigned to the South Division of the Asiatic Squadron.
On 24 July 1880, Marques del Duero left Philippine waters for courtesy visits to the kings of Siam and Annam
at Saigon and Singapore
.
On 27 September 1895, Marques del Duero captured several pirate launches manned by Moros
in Borneo
. She later attacked a group of Moro and Tagalog
pirates, killing 18 and wounding 30.
Marques del Duero was the oldest member of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo de Pasaron's
Pacific Squadron at Manila
in the Philippine Islands when the Spanish-American War
broke out in April 1898. She was anchored with the squadron in Cañacao Bay
under the lee of the Cavite Peninsula
east of Sangley Point, Luzon
, eight miles southwest of Manila
, when, early on the morning of 1 May 1898, the United States Navy
's Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey
, found Montojo's anchorage and attacked. In the resulting Battle of Manila Bay, the first major engagement of the Spanish-American War
, Marques del Duero took one 8-inch (203-mm), one 6-inch (152-mm), and about three other shell hits, which wrecked her bow gun, a side gun, and an engine. Her crew scuttled her in shallow water; part of her upper works remained above water, and a boarding crew from the gunboat USS Petrel
went aboard and set these on fire at the end of battle.
After the war, a U.S. Navy salvage team raised and repaired Marques del Duero. She served briefly in the U.S. Navy as USS P-17, but was decommissioned and scrapped in 1900.
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
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 fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during 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...
.
Technical Characteristics
Marques del Duero was a first-class gunboatGunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
, or "aviso
Aviso
An aviso , a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy, they are considered equivalent to the modern sloop....
", built by La Seyne in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. She was laid down on 20 January 1875, launched on 3 May 1875, and completed the same year. She was designed to fight against the Carlists in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
during the Third Carlist War
Third Carlist War
The Third Carlist War was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is very often referred to as the Second Carlist War, as the 'second' had been small in scale and almost trivial in political consequence....
, patrolling off Carlist ports to intercept contraband and blockade the ports, and also providing despatch services between 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...
forces operating off vaious ports, hence her Spanish designation of aviso, meaning "warning." She had an iron hull with a very prominent ram bow, was coal-fired, was rigged as a schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
, and could carry 89 tons of coal. She was reclassified as a third-class gunboat in 1895.
Operational history
The Spanish took delivery of Marques del Duero from her French builders at Marseilles, FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. She set out on her first operational deployment from Marseilles on 27 July 1875, heading for San Sebastián Bay
San Sebastián Bay
San Sebastián Bay is located in the northern part of the Argentine Tierra del Fuego Province....
in northern Spain for blockade, patrol, and despatch duty. She served there beyond the end of the Third Carlist War
Third Carlist War
The Third Carlist War was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is very often referred to as the Second Carlist War, as the 'second' had been small in scale and almost trivial in political consequence....
on 27 February 1876, finally leaving after Spanish naval forces there began to leave for postwar duties after 5 April 1876.
On 29 July 1876, Marques del Duero departed Spain for 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...
, where she was based at Zamboanga
Zamboanga City
The City of Zamboanga : is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines....
, assigned to the South Division of the Asiatic Squadron.
On 24 July 1880, Marques del Duero left Philippine waters for courtesy visits to the kings of Siam and Annam
Annam (French Colony)
Annam was a French protectorate encompassing the central region of Vietnam. Vietnamese were subsequently referred to as "Annamites." Nationalist writers adopted the word "Vietnam" in the late 1920s. The general public embraced the word "Vietnam" during the revolution of August 1945...
at Saigon and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
On 27 September 1895, Marques del Duero captured several pirate launches manned by Moros
Moros
In Greek mythology, Moros is the personification of impending doom, who drives mortals to their deadly fate. He is one of the offspring of Nyx , who had conceived him without male intervention, and brother of the Moirae ....
in Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. She later attacked a group of Moro and Tagalog
Tagalog people
The Tagalog people are an ethnic group in the Philippines. The name Tagalog comes from either the native term tagá-ilog, meaning 'people living along the river', or another native term, tagá-alog, meaning 'people living along the ford', a ford being a shallow part of a river or stream where people,...
pirates, killing 18 and wounding 30.
Marques del Duero was the oldest member of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo de Pasaron's
Patricio Montojo
Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón was a career Spanish naval officer most known for his defeat at the Battle of Manila Bay by Admiral George Dewey, a decisive battle of the Spanish-American War....
Pacific Squadron at Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
in the Philippine Islands 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 anchored with the squadron in Cañacao Bay
Cañacao Bay
Cañacao Bay is an inlet of Manila Bay at the end of the Cavite Peninsula, in Cavite Province, Luzon, the Philippines.The bay is a good anchorage and its northern part is the harbor of Cavite Naval Base.-References:...
under the lee of the Cavite Peninsula
Cavite Peninsula
The Cavite Peninsula is a narrow point in northeastern Cavite Province, Luzon, the Philippines. Bacoor Bay lies between the peninsula and the mainland. The City of Cavite is located on the peninsula....
east of Sangley Point, Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, eight miles southwest of Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, when, early on the morning of 1 May 1898, the 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...
's Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey
George Dewey
George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
, found Montojo's anchorage and attacked. In the resulting Battle of Manila Bay, the first major engagement of 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...
, Marques del Duero took one 8-inch (203-mm), one 6-inch (152-mm), and about three other shell hits, which wrecked her bow gun, a side gun, and an engine. Her crew scuttled her in shallow water; part of her upper works remained above water, and a boarding crew from the gunboat USS Petrel
USS Petrel (PG-2)
|-External links:* at navsource.org...
went aboard and set these on fire at the end of battle.
After the war, a U.S. Navy salvage team raised and repaired Marques del Duero. She served briefly in the U.S. Navy as USS P-17, but was decommissioned and scrapped in 1900.