The ''Bustamante'' class was a class of three destroyers of the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigat ...

. They were built in Spain to a British design completing between 1914 and 1916. They served until 1930–1932. The ''Bustamante'' class saw little service, spent mostly in a training

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, d ...

and patrolling the coasts of Spain. Compared to contemporary foreign designs, the ''Bustamante'' class was considered outclassed, with poor armament and a lack of speed.

Design and description

In 1908, the Spanish

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border o ...

passed a Naval Law that reorganised Spain's naval dockyards to make them more efficient and allowing a modern navy to be built. The law also authorised a large shipbuilding construction programme, with three battleships, three destroyers, 24

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...

s and 4 gunboats to be completed by 1914. While the ships were to be built in Spain's newly refurbished shipyards, most of the ships would be of foreign design.Gardiner and Gray 1985, pp. 375–376. The three destroyers were built by

Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval From 1909 until the Spanish Civil War, naval construction in Spain was monopolized by the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval – (SECN) also Spanish Society for Naval Construction (SECN). During this time the majority of its shares were owne ...

(SECN), the consortium set up to refurbish and manage the Spanish shipyards, at

Cartagena Cartagena or Carthagena may refer to: Places Chile *Cartagena, Chile, a commune in Valparaíso Region Colombia *Cartagena, Colombia, a city in the Bolívar Department, the largest city with this name **Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cartagena, an ...

to a British design (either by

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in ...

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia *John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Iri ...

''Purnell's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Modern Weapons and Warfare'', p. 484. — both companies were part of the SECN consortium.).Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 380. The new destroyers were long, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

of , a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

of and

displaced Displaced may refer to: * Forced displacement Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNH ...

. They were powered by

steam turbines A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbi ...

, fed by

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

Normand boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

s and driving three propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at which gave a speed of . The vessels had a range of at . Two

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constr ...

were fitted. Armament consisted of five Vickers guns, two side-by-side on the ships'

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " b ...

, one aft on the ships' centreline, and the remaining two guns on the ships' beam. Two sets of twin

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed abo ...

s were fitted.Parkes 1931, p. 424.

Construction and service

The three destroyers, ''Bustamante'', ''Villaamil'' and ''Cadarso'' were

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

between 1911 and 1913. ''Bustamante'' and ''Villaamil'' were launched in 1913 while ''Cadarso'' was launched in 1914. ''Bustamante'' was completed in 1914, with ''Villaamil'' and ''Cadarso'' completing in 1916. Owing to the cessation of material support from Great Britain during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

''Cadarso'' was fitted with torpedo tubes instead of the planned 450 mm tubes. By the time they entered service, the ''Bustamante'' class were outclassed by contemporary foreign destroyers, being poorly armed and slow. The ships carried out neutrality patrols around Spain's coasts during the First World War. They spent much of their time in a training squadron, and were disposed of in the early 1930s, with ''Cadarso'' being

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

in 1930, ''Bustamante'' in 1931 and ''Villaamil'' in 1932.

Citations

References

* * * {{Bustamante-class destroyer Destroyer classes Destroyers of Spain