| Ferrol Naval Base | |
|---|---|
Arsenal de Ferrol | |
 | |
| Type | Military base |
| Site information | |
| Owner |  Spain |
| Controlled by |  Spanish Navy |
| Site history | |
| Built | 16th century 1740-1790 |
| In use | 1726 –present |
| Garrison information | |
| Current commander | Vice admiral Antonio Duelo Menor [1] |
| Occupants | See Ships |
Ferrol Naval Base also known as the Arsenal of Ferrol is a military base and arsenal of the Spanish Navy located in Ferrol, Spain. It is the main Spanish naval base on the Atlantic.
The first warships arrived in the Ría de Ferrol in the 16th century, during the reign of the House of Austria. It was not until 1724 when Felipe V, of the House of Bourbon, established Ferrol as the main port of the Atlantic.
Major development and expansion of the shipyards and arsenal began in the 1740s and 1750s. Initial proposals were drawn up under Minister of the Navy José Patiño, and executed by his successor, Zenón de Somodevilla y Bengoechea, Marquis de la Ensenadahe, appointed Minister of the Navy in 1743. The first ship, the San Fernando, was launched in 1751. By then twelve ships could be being built simultaneously. King Charles III was particularly interested in the navy, and in 1790, during his reign, the arsenal at Ferrol was largely completed, with a workforce of 5,440 men and a capacity to maintain 70 ships.
Technological developments during the Industrial Revolution led to the establishment of the School of Machinists and the School of Naval Engineers in 1850, during the reign of Isabel II. A steam engine workshop was also established. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first Spanish battleships, the España class, were built in Ferrol. By 1912 the shipyards of Ferrol were primarily building battleships and cruisers, while destroyers and submarines were built in Cartagena.
The Ferrol naval base was substantially modernized during the twentieth century. The Navy Marine Corps Barracks were built; as were the Electricity and Electronics Workshop and new warehouses. New facilities for docks 1 and 2 were constructed, as was a Cannon Workshop. The docks have been expanded, and vessels can be moored around the basin. In 2003 dock 5 was enlarged to fit the Álvaro de Bazán-class frigates. In 2013 the Naval Archive of Ferrol was inaugurated. [2]
The Spanish Navy is the 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, the most famous being the voyages of Christopher Columbus to America and the first global circumnavigation by Magellan and Elcano. For several centuries, it played a crucial logistical role in the expansion and consolidation of the Spanish Empire, and defended a vast trade network across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe, and the Manila Galleon across the Pacific Ocean between Manila and the Americas.
Príncipe de Asturias, originally named Almirante Carrero Blanco, was an aircraft carrier and former flagship of the Spanish Navy. She was built in Bazan's Shipyards and delivered to the Spanish Navy on 30 May 1988.
A shipyard is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.
The Álvaro de Bazán class, also known as the F100 class, is a class of Aegis combat system-equipped air defence frigates in service with the Spanish Navy. The vessels were built by Spanish shipbuilder Navantia in Ferrol, with the lead ship of the class named for Admiral Álvaro de Bazán.
Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, which offers its services to both military and civil sector. It is the fifth-largest shipbuilder in Europe, and the ninth-largest in the world with shipyards around the globe. The company heir to the segregation of the military assets of the IZAR Group in 2005, Navantia designs, builds and supports all types of surface vessels, submarines and systems. In addition, it is expanding into new markets diversifying its product, such as renewable energy, the offshore industry and all kinds of services that it requires by the naval industry.
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). In this time a majority of its shares were owned by the United Kingdom firm, and therefore almost all ships built by the company were developed after Royal Navy designs.
Casto Secundino María Méndez Núñez was a Spanish naval officer born in Vigo, Galicia. In 1866 during the Chincha Islands War between Spain, Peru and Chile, he was general commander of the Spanish fleet in the Pacific. As such, he bombarded and destroyed the port of Valparaiso, and fought the Battle of Callao Méndez Núñez was the first man to circumnavigate the world on an ironclad warship: "Enloricata navis quae primo terram circuivit".
Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta was a Spanish navy officer best remembered for the Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1741) in modern-day Colombia, where Spanish imperial forces under his command decisively defeated a large British invasion fleet under Admiral Edward Vernon.
José Ferrándiz y Niño (1847–1918) was a Spanish soldier and politician who became a vicealmirante in the Spanish Navy. He was born in Seville and died in Madrid.
The Baleares class are a group of five frigates built for the Spanish navy in the 1970s. The ships are a modified version of the American Knox-class frigates. The key differences are the replacement of the Sea Sparrow PDMS and ASW helicopter facilities by Standard SAM and associated radars. They received a SPS-52B 3D search radar and one SPG-51 illuminator for the Standard SM-1 medium range SAM, fired from a Mk22 16-round single arm launcher. The SQS-26 long range LF sonar was replaced by a SQS-23G MF sonar, while two Mk25 tubes for Mk37 torpedoes were mounted in the transom. The SQS-35 variable depth sonar was maintained.
Júpiter-class minelayers was a group of four vessels of the Spanish Republican Navy built during the Spanish Republic. Three of them came into service during the Civil War after joining the rebel side.
The Serviola-class patrol boats were a series of patrol boats built in 1990 at the shipyard in Ferrol in the former Empresa Nacional Bazan for the Spanish Navy. They entered service with the Spanish Navy from October 1992. They are based in the Galician port of Ferrol making most of their patrols along the Galician and Cantabrian coasts.
The Spanish Republican Navy was the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939.
Cantabria (A15) is a replenishment oiler operated by the Spanish Navy. Acquired to provide logistical support for the Spanish fleet, Cantabria was commissioned in 2010. Cantabria is the second-largest naval ship currently operated by the Spanish, behind Juan Carlos I.
Arsenal de la Carraca, also Naval Station of La Carraca, is a naval shipyard and a naval base in San Fernando, Spain. It is a naval base for the construction and repair of ships, and the storage and distribution of arms and ammunition. The first military establishment of its kind to be created in Spain under the naval policy of Felipe V, it was developed by Patiño and the Marquis de la Ensenada. Though work on building the shipyard began in 1720, the formal decree issued by Fernando VI on October 3, 1752, accelerated its construction until it was completed in the late 18th century.
Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando is an historical Italian shipyard in Livorno.
Blas de Lezo (F-103) is a Spanish Navy guided missile frigate of the Álvaro de Bazán class. This is the third ship class of air defense frigates in the Spanish Navy. It was named after the 18th century Spanish Admiral Blas de Lezo. The ship was built by Izar Shipbuilding in Ferrol, Spain and entered into service in 2004.
Cartagena Naval Base, also known as Arsenal of Cartagena, is a military base and arsenal of the Spanish Navy located in the city of Cartagena, Spain. It is one of the oldest naval bases in Spain, having been created in the 18th century. It is also the main Spanish base in the Mediterranean.
Cristóbal Colón is the fifth and last ship of the Álvaro de Bazán-class of air defence frigates entering service with the Spanish Navy. The ship is named after Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer that claimed the discovery of America in the name of the Crown of Castile. It is the most modern ship of the Spanish Navy.
Aircraft carried: 1 × Sikorsky SH-60B LAMPS III Seahawk |} Méndez Núñez (F-104) is an Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate of the Spanish Navy. She is the fourth ship of her class, entering service in 2006. She is named after the 19th-century Spanish Rear admiral Casto Méndez Núñez. It was the first Spanish Navy vessel to visit the Philippines since the end of the Southeast Asian nation's Spanish colonial-period in 1898.
