Battle of Cape Spartel (1936)

The Battle of Cape Spartel (''Cabo Espartel'' in Spanish) was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar, securing the maritime supply route to Spanish Morocco for the Nationalists early in the war. The action occurred on 29 September 1936 between two Nationalist cruisers and two Republican destroyers.

Background

The rebels at Ferrol, Spain, Ferrol, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, had been able to seize the city's naval base in July, but at a large cost: over 30 mutinous officer (military), officers had been shot by hundreds of sailors loyal to the Republic.

Their prize included the old battleship ''España'' (formerly ), the cruiser , the unfinished and , a cruiser undergoing repairs (), one destroyer, and a number of torpedo boats and Sloop-of-war, sloops. In September, a small squadron, including ''Almirante Cervera'' and ''Canarias'', steamed from Ferrol to engage the Republican navy.

At the start of the war, the Spanish Republican Navy had the battleship , three light cruisers, 14 destroyers, plus five submarines. In addition to ''España'', the two cruisers and one destroyer taken by the Nationalists, by the following year they had completed ''Baleares'' and ''Canarias''. They also had purchased four destroyers and two submarines from Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Fascist Italy. The Nationalists established a blockade of the Republican-held coastline for the entire duration of the war, but their paucity of ships limited the blockade's effectiveness.

The battle

The Nationalists engaged a squadron of Republican destroyers stationed on the western end of the Straits shortly after 6:30 am. The destroyer ''Gravina'' was deployed near Cape Spartel, while her sister ship was patrolling off Ceuta. A fierce exchange of fire followed, during which the destroyer ''Almirante Ferrándiz'' was chased and eventually sunk by ''Canarias'' in the Alboran Sea after a 40-minute engagement, while ''Gravina'' was pursued and hit twice by ''Almirante'' ''Cervera'' along the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The main guns of ''Canarias'' found their mark at a range of with their second salvo, while those of ''Almirante'' ''Cervera'' performed poorly. The surviving Republican destroyer retreated toward Casablanca. ''Almirante Ferrándiz,'' having been hit six times, blew up and sank south of Calaburras. Thirty-one seamen from ''Almirante Ferrándiz'' were rescued by ''Canarias'', while the French liner ''Koutubia'' picked up another 26, including her commander, José Luis Barbastro Jiménez. This action was decisive to open the Straits to the insurgents' shipping.

See also

*List of classes of Spanish Nationalist ships of the Spanish Civil War
*Spanish Civil War Republican ship classes, Spanish Civil War Republican ship classe
*Convoy de la victoria

Notes

References

* Hugh Thomas (writer), Thomas, Hugh (1979). ''La guerra civil española''. Volume 6. Ediciones Urbión, p. 184. .
* Cortada, James: ''Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939.'' Greenwood Press, 1982.

External links

Summary of Major Campaigns and Offensives

{{Tangier

1936 in Spain
Naval battles of the Spanish Civil War, Cape Spartel
Maritime incidents in 1936
History of Tangier
Mediterranean naval operations of the Spanish Civil War, Cape Spartel
Atlantic naval operations of the Spanish Civil War, Cape Spartel
September 1936 events
1936 in Morocco