The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, 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 discovery of America and the first global circumnavigation. 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 the Philippines and the Americas.
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they generally range in size. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, police, or customs, and may be intended for marine, estuarine, or river environments.
Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding dedicated to civil and military naval construction, the design of deep-tech systems and the manufacture of structures for the renewable energy sector, such as offshore wind or hydrogen.
The Gibraltar Squadron is a unit of the British Royal Navy. It is the only seagoing Royal Naval unit based in Gibraltar, attached to British Forces Gibraltar. It currently includes two Cutlass-class fast patrol boats with a maximum speed of up to 41-knots. The squadron also uses three Pacific 24 rigid-hulled inflatable boats and deploys one diving support boat. The 2021 defence white paper indicated that henceforth, one River-class offshore patrol vessel, HMS Trent, would also be permanently based in Gibraltar for operations in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Guinea. As of 2023, 28 personnel were assigned to the squadron, along with additional personnel assigned to HMS Trent.
HMS Pursuer is an Archer-class P2000 patrol and training vessel of the Royal Navy.
The Battle of Cape Spartel was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican naval blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar, securing the maritime supply route to Spanish Morocco for the Nationalists early in the war. The action occurred on 29 September 1936 between two Nationalist cruisers and two Republican destroyers.
HMS Scimitar was a Scimitar-class fast patrol boat of the British Royal Navy. She is a Lifespan Patrol Vessel type boat and formerly served in inland waterway duties in Northern Ireland as MV Grey Fox. She was acquired to serve with the Gibraltar Squadron, tasked with policing, customs and search and rescue duties. This released an Archer-class patrol vessel for tasking with the Cyprus Squadron.
C-3 was a C-class submarine of the Spanish Republican Navy. C-3 was built by Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN) in Cartagena, Spain, launched 20 February 1929, and commissioned on 4 May 1929. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the government side before being sunk by the German submarine U-34 on 12 December 1936.
Furor (P-46) is an offshore patrol vessel and the sixth of the Meteoro class created for the Spanish Navy.
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.
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, the Genoese 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.
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.
Serviola (P-71) is the lead ship of the Serviola-class patrol boats of the Spanish Navy built in 1990. The ship has been involved in numerous anti-piracy and drug interdiction missions off the coast of Spain and in the Gulf of Guinea.
HMS Dagger is a Cutlass-class fast patrol boat of the British Royal Navy. She is a fast patrol boat with a maximum speed around 41 knots designed for sovereignty protection and coastal security duties. She is part of the Royal Navy's Gibraltar Squadron and arrived in the territory in April 2022
Centinela(P-72) is a Serviola-class patrol boat of the Spanish Navy built in 1990. It conducts maritime security operations in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Gulf of Guinea.
Vigía (P-73) is a Serviola-class patrol boat of the Spanish Navy built in 1992. The ship's primary missions are oceanic patrol, fishing control, escort, and maritime rescue.
Atalaya (P-74) is a Serviola-class patrol boat of the Spanish Navy built in 1991. The ship's primary missions are oceanic patrol, fishing control, escort, and maritime rescue. Its home port is at the La Graña Naval Station in Ferrol.
Velasco was a Spanish Navy destroyer in commission from 1924 to 1957. She served in the Rif War in 1925 and fought on the Nationalist side during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. While in commission, she served the Kingdom of Spain from 1924 to 1931, the Second Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1936, and the civil war's Nationalist faction and the Francoist Spanish State its victory established from 1936 to 1957.
Spanish Navy 
