''Canarias'' was a Canarias-class

heavy cruiser A 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 calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...

of the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, 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 navigation ...

. She was built in Spain by the

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subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval based on a British design, being a modified version of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

′s County class. ''Canarias'' saw service during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

History

''Canarias'' was the flagship of the Nationalist Navy and sank 34 ships, including the Spanish Republican Navy destroyer during the Battle of Cape Espartel, and the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

merchant ''Komsomol'' off

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, both in the second half of 1936. ''Canarias'' was the main player of the Battle of Cape Machichaco on 5 March 1937, when the Basque Auxiliary Navy

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. Some, known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers ...

''Nabarra'' was destroyed. She also damaged the destroyer , forcing her to seek refuge at

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on 29 August 1938. ''Canarias'' captured the Republican liner ''Mar Cantábrico'', which was later converted to an

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

. During World War II she took part in the search for survivors from the in May 1941. Canarias C21 2

The cruiser remained in commission (due to several repair and refit periods) as the fleet flagship throughout her career. A major refit was planned for ''Canarias'' around 1973 to further extend the vessel's life, but a survey of her condition (conducted with help of US Navy personnel) concluded she was too old and obsolete to warrant the work. Some effort was made to turn her into a museum ship, but very little funds were raised for the plan. She was decommissioned in 1975 and then sold for scrap in 1977, but was able to steam under her own power to the scrapyard.

Notes

References

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External links

''Canarias, Adiós''
by Willard C. Frank, Jr. (1975)
Crucero Canarias (C-21). Última singladura. 1974 (Decommissioning ceremony of Spanish cruiser Canarias)
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Canarias Canarias-class cruisers Ships built in Spain 1931 ships Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Maritime incidents in 1936 Spanish Civil War ships