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Spanish cruiser Castilla
Castilla was an Aragon-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War. Originally designed as an armored corvette with a central battery ironclad design, she instead was completed as an unprotected cruiser or wooden corvette. After early service in the Mediterranean Sea, she spent the rest of her career in the Philippine Islands. She took part in combat operations during the first two years of the Philippine Revolution in 1896–1897. When the Spanish–American War broke out 1898, she was part of the squadron of Contralmirante (Counter Admiral) Patricio Montojo y Pasarón in Manila Bay and was sunk in the Battle of Manila Bay.
In 1869, the Provisional Government of Spain ordered the three Aragon-class ships as armored corvettes, intended for colonial service in the Spanish Empire. Accordingly, Castilla′s construction began in 1869 with the intention of completing her to a central battery ironclad design with 890 tons of armor and 500 millimetres (19.7 in) of armor at the waterline. In either 1870 or 1877, according to different sources, her design was changed to that of an unprotected cruiser or wooden corvette, a change which left her with an overly heavy wooden hull that was obsolescent by the time she was launched in 1881.
Castilla had a ram bow and two funnels and was rigged as a barque. Her machinery was manufactured at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro at Ferrol, Spain. The original main battery of Armstrong-built 8-inch (203 mm) guns was obsolescent when she was completed, and were quickly replaced with more modern Krupp-built guns, with the 5.9-inch (150 mm) guns mounted in sponsons. Designed for colonial service, including intercepting contraband and pirates, she was never intended to fight a battle against heavily armed, armored, steel-hulled warships like she faced in the Battle of Manila Bay.
Castilla was laid down in May 1869 at the Arsenal de La Carraca in San Fernando, Spain. Sources give different accounts of her construction. According to one, political events thereafter delayed her construction until 1876, Minister of the Navy Vicealmirante (Vice Admiral) Juan Bautista Antequera y Bobadilla ordered her to be completed as a wooden warship in 1877, and she was completed in 1881 and commissioned in 1882. Another source claims that the decision to complete her as a wooden, rather than ironclad, warship was made in 1870 and that she was launched in August 1881 and completed in 1882. Still another states that her construction was suspended in 1873 and delayed by political events before resuming in January 1877, after which she was launched on 9 September 1881, that her fitting-out then suffered from several years of delays, and that as a result she was not completed and commissioned until 1886, beginning operations in August 1886.
After commissioning, Castilla was assigned to the Training Squadron. During tensions with the German Empire over the status of the Caroline Islands in the Spanish East Indies in the Pacific Ocean, she was among Spanish warships receiving orders on 24 October 1886 to prepare for action, but in the end no armed conflict broke out.
Ordered in mid-January 1887 to undertake a voyage to visit several foreign ports on the Mediterranean Sea, the Training Squadron — consisting of the armored frigate Numancia (serving as the squadron's flagship), the screw frigate Gerona, and Castilla — anchored at Genoa, Italy, from 24 January to 2 February, then proceeded to La Spezia, Italy. Planned visits to ports in Sicily were canceled due to an outbreak of cholera in Catania, but the squadron continued its voyage by visiting Algiers and other ports in North Africa before concluding the cruise.
On 25 August 1887, Queen Regent Maria Christina, Minister of the Navy Rafael Rodríguez de Arias Villavicencio, and President of the Council of Ministers Práxedes Mateo Sagasta boarded Castilla at San Sebastián, Spain. From Castilla, the dignitaries observed maneuvers by the new torpedo boat destroyer Destructor.
Castilla and her sister ship Navarra got underway from San Sebastián on 4 September 1887 to escort the steamship Ferrolano as Ferrolano transported Queen Maria Christina for a visit to Getaria (Spanish: Guetaria), Spain. The ships returned to San Sebastián that night.
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Spanish cruiser Castilla
Castilla was an Aragon-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War. Originally designed as an armored corvette with a central battery ironclad design, she instead was completed as an unprotected cruiser or wooden corvette. After early service in the Mediterranean Sea, she spent the rest of her career in the Philippine Islands. She took part in combat operations during the first two years of the Philippine Revolution in 1896–1897. When the Spanish–American War broke out 1898, she was part of the squadron of Contralmirante (Counter Admiral) Patricio Montojo y Pasarón in Manila Bay and was sunk in the Battle of Manila Bay.
In 1869, the Provisional Government of Spain ordered the three Aragon-class ships as armored corvettes, intended for colonial service in the Spanish Empire. Accordingly, Castilla′s construction began in 1869 with the intention of completing her to a central battery ironclad design with 890 tons of armor and 500 millimetres (19.7 in) of armor at the waterline. In either 1870 or 1877, according to different sources, her design was changed to that of an unprotected cruiser or wooden corvette, a change which left her with an overly heavy wooden hull that was obsolescent by the time she was launched in 1881.
Castilla had a ram bow and two funnels and was rigged as a barque. Her machinery was manufactured at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro at Ferrol, Spain. The original main battery of Armstrong-built 8-inch (203 mm) guns was obsolescent when she was completed, and were quickly replaced with more modern Krupp-built guns, with the 5.9-inch (150 mm) guns mounted in sponsons. Designed for colonial service, including intercepting contraband and pirates, she was never intended to fight a battle against heavily armed, armored, steel-hulled warships like she faced in the Battle of Manila Bay.
Castilla was laid down in May 1869 at the Arsenal de La Carraca in San Fernando, Spain. Sources give different accounts of her construction. According to one, political events thereafter delayed her construction until 1876, Minister of the Navy Vicealmirante (Vice Admiral) Juan Bautista Antequera y Bobadilla ordered her to be completed as a wooden warship in 1877, and she was completed in 1881 and commissioned in 1882. Another source claims that the decision to complete her as a wooden, rather than ironclad, warship was made in 1870 and that she was launched in August 1881 and completed in 1882. Still another states that her construction was suspended in 1873 and delayed by political events before resuming in January 1877, after which she was launched on 9 September 1881, that her fitting-out then suffered from several years of delays, and that as a result she was not completed and commissioned until 1886, beginning operations in August 1886.
After commissioning, Castilla was assigned to the Training Squadron. During tensions with the German Empire over the status of the Caroline Islands in the Spanish East Indies in the Pacific Ocean, she was among Spanish warships receiving orders on 24 October 1886 to prepare for action, but in the end no armed conflict broke out.
Ordered in mid-January 1887 to undertake a voyage to visit several foreign ports on the Mediterranean Sea, the Training Squadron — consisting of the armored frigate Numancia (serving as the squadron's flagship), the screw frigate Gerona, and Castilla — anchored at Genoa, Italy, from 24 January to 2 February, then proceeded to La Spezia, Italy. Planned visits to ports in Sicily were canceled due to an outbreak of cholera in Catania, but the squadron continued its voyage by visiting Algiers and other ports in North Africa before concluding the cruise.
On 25 August 1887, Queen Regent Maria Christina, Minister of the Navy Rafael Rodríguez de Arias Villavicencio, and President of the Council of Ministers Práxedes Mateo Sagasta boarded Castilla at San Sebastián, Spain. From Castilla, the dignitaries observed maneuvers by the new torpedo boat destroyer Destructor.
Castilla and her sister ship Navarra got underway from San Sebastián on 4 September 1887 to escort the steamship Ferrolano as Ferrolano transported Queen Maria Christina for a visit to Getaria (Spanish: Guetaria), Spain. The ships returned to San Sebastián that night.