Spanish ironclad Méndez Núñez

The Spanish ironclad Méndez Núñez was a wooden-hulled armored frigate converted from the 38-gun, steam-powered frigate Resolución during the 1860s after the ship was badly damaged during the Chincha Islands War of 1864–66. She was captured by rebels during the Cantonal Revolution in 1873 and participated in the Battle off Cartagena before she was returned to government control after Cartagena surrendered in early 1874. The ship was stricken from the Navy List in 1886 and broken up ten years later.

Mendez Nuñez at anchor
History
Spain
Name: Méndez Núñez
Namesake: Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez
Builder: Royal dockyard, Ferrol
Laid down: 22 September 1859 as frigate Resolución
Launched: 19 September 1861
Completed: 28 August 1862
Recommissioned: February 1870
Renamed: Méndez Núñez, 21 August 1870
Refit: 1867–70
Stricken: 1886
Fate: Broken up, 1896
General characteristics (as reconstructed)
Type: Central battery ironclad
Displacement: 3,382 long tons (3,436 t)
Length: 236 ft 2 in (72.0 m)
Beam: 49 ft 3 in (15.0 m)
Draft: 21 ft 11 in (6.7 m)
Installed power:
  • 2,250 ihp (1,680 kW)
  • 4 boilers
Propulsion: 1 shaft, compound-expansion steam engine
Sail plan: Ship rig
Speed: about 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement: 417
Armament:
Armor:

Description as an ironclad

Méndez Núñez was 236 feet 3 inches (72.0 m) long at the waterline, had a beam of 49 feet 4 inches (15.0 m) and a mean draft of 21 feet 11 inches (6.7 m). The ship displaced 3,382 long tons (3,436 t). She had a single compound-expansion steam engine that drove her propeller using steam provided by four boilers. The engine was designed to produce a total of 2,250 indicated horsepower (1,680 kW) which gave the ship a speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).[1] For long-distance travel, Méndez Núñez was fitted with three masts and ship rigged. She carried 400 long tons (410 t) of coal.[2]

The ship was armed with four Armstrong 9-inch (229 mm) and two 8-inch (203 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns. The ship was a central-battery ironclad with the armament concentrated amidships. Her wrought-iron armor covered most of the ship's hull and was five inches (127 mm) thick.[3]

Service

Resolución was badly damaged during the Chincha Islands War of 1864–66 and was rebuilt into an armored frigate in 1867–70. Completed in February 1870, the ship was renamed Méndez Núñez, after Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez, on 21 August 1870.[4] The ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron after completion.[5]

In mid-1873, the First Spanish Republic was beset with the Cantonal Revolution while fighting the Third Carlist War. The revolutionaries seized Cartagena on 12 July while the bulk of the Mediterranean Squadron was in port. This included the armored frigates Vitoria, Numancia, and Tetuan, in addition to Méndez Núñez. The German and British ironclads SMS Friedrich Carl and HMS Swiftsure seized Vitoria and a wooden steam frigate as pirates after they threatened to bombard Almeria unless a ransom was paid and later turned them over the national government on 26 September. In August, Numancia and Méndez Núñez attacked coastal fortifications defending Alicante and were lightly damaged. On 11 October, all three Cantonist ironclads, Numancia, Tetuan, and Méndez Núñez were at sea when they were attacked near Cartagena by a small government fleet led by Vitoria. Reluctant to actually sink the rebel ships, the government ships kept their distance and thwarted rebel attempt to close with them. The latter suffered 13 dead and 49 wounded in the skirmish. The government blockaded Cartagena on 23 October and the city surrendered on 12–13 January 1874.[6]

Méndez Núñez was stricken in 1886 and scrapped in 1896.[4]

Footnotes
  1. Silverstone, p. 388
  2. "Spanish Ironclads Tetuan, Mendes Nunes and Arapiles", p. 408
  3. Gardiner, p. 381
  4. Silverstone, p. 394
  5. Greene & Massignani, p. 278
  6. Greene & Massignani, pp. 278–81
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References
  • Adamson, Robert E. & de St. Hubert, Christian (1991). "Question 12/89". Warship International. XXVIII (2): 199–205. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Brassey, Thomas (1888). The Naval Annual 1887. Portsmouth, England: J. Griffin. OCLC 669097244.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
  • Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro (1998). Ironclads at War: The Origin and Development of the Armored Warship, 1854–1891. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Combined Publishing. ISBN 978-0-938289-58-6.
  • Jones, Colin (2011). "Battle at Valparaíso". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2011. London: Conway. pp. 94–101. ISBN 978-1-84486-133-0.
  • de Saint Hubert, Christian (1984). "Early Spanish Steam Warships, Part II". Warship International. Toledo, OH: International Naval Records Organization. XXI (1): 21–45. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
  • "Spanish Ironclads Tetuan, Mendes Nunes and Arapiles". Warship International. XI (2): 407–408. 1974. ISSN 0043-0374.
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