The ''Canarias'' class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval ...

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 ...

. Two ships of the class were completed in the 1930s. They were built in Spain by the

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

subsidiary

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 ...

upon a British design, and were a modified version of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

′s County class. The two ships completed, and , both saw service during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, the latter being sunk.

Design

The ships were ordered in 1926 and were based on the British County-class cruisers. The designer was Sir Phillip Watts. These ships had anti-torpedo bulges and a slightly narrower beam as well as more powerful machinery. The boiler rooms were re-arranged compared to the British design and trunked into a single massive funnel rather than three funnels used on the British cruisers. The Spanish ships had a stronger secondary armament and although the original design included a

catapult A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of store ...

for a seaplane this was never installed.

Ships

Both ships were built by SECN in Ferrol. A third ship was projected but not ordered.

Service history

Both ships were making their final sea trials when seized by the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

side in the

. Both of them were fitting out and completed with makeshift fire control and secondary armament. ''Canarias'' was the flagship of the Nationalist Navy and sank 34 ships including the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

destroyer and the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

merchant ''Komsomol''. She also damaged the destroyer , forcing her to seek refuge at Gibraltar. During World War II she took part in the search of survivors from the . ''Baleares'' was completed without 'Y' turret, which was retrofitted in 1937. In September 1937 she engaged two Republican light cruisers in the

Battle of Cape Cherchell The Battle of Cape Cherchell was a naval battle between the Nationalist heavy cruiser and the Spanish Republican Navy light cruisers and in the Spanish Civil War, several miles north of the Algerian city of Cherchell. In the early morning ho ...

. During a raid on

Palma de Majorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...

in March 1938 she was intercepted by Republican destroyers and torpedoed by the destroyer . The torpedoes blew up the forward magazines, disintegrating the fore part of the ship. The stern half remained afloat and 372 of her crew of 1221 were saved by British destroyers and . 786 men died during the action.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

''Canarias'' specs at Bismarck site

BUQUESDEGUERRA.TK
a Spanish website about warships (Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Canarias class cruiser Cruiser classes