History | |
---|---|
Spain | |
Name | Almirante Miranda |
Namesake | Augusto Miranda y Godoy |
Builder | S.E.C.N in Cartagena |
Launched | 20 June 1931 |
Commissioned | 1936 |
Fate | Scrapped 23 March 1970 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Churruca class |
Displacement | 1536 tons |
Length | 101 m (331.36 ft) |
Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.1 m) |
Draft | 3.3 m (10.83 ft) |
Installed power | 42,000 shp (31,000 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
Range | 4,500 nmi (5,200 mi; 8,300 km) @ 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h) |
Armament |
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Almirante Miranda (AM) was a Churruca-class destroyer that fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side and, after the war, joined the post-war Spanish Navy. She was named after Admiral Augusto Miranda y Godoy, a Spanish Minister of the Navy.
During the Spanish Civil War Almirante Miranda operated in the Mediterranean, where she took part in the failed invasion of Majorca, as well as in the Battle of Cape Cherchell, under the command of Captain Alberto Bayo.
On 12 July 1937, she engaged the Nationalist heavy cruiser Baleares , along with Lepanto, Churruca, Almirante Valdés, Gravina and Sánchez Baircáztegui, while the ships were escorting the oiler Campillo. Both sides retreated after exchanging salvos for an hour, Baleares deciding to do so after her crew discovered that her guns overheated after 50 shots. [1]
On 5 March 1939, she left Cartagena along with most of the Republican Navy following the uprising in the city, reaching Bizerta on 11 March. The next day, the crews solicited political asylum in Tunisia. Most of the ship's crews were interned, with a few Spaniards left to guard the ships. The rest were transported to a concentration camp in Meheri Zabbens. [2] [3]
On 31 March 1939, the ships Mallorca and Marqués de Comillas arrived in Bizerta, carrying the personnel tasked with taking over the interned ships.
On 2 April, merely 24 hours after the war concluded, Almirante Miranda and the other ships that left Cartagena sailed to Cádiz, arriving in the last hours of 5 April.
On 7 December 1957, during the Ifni War, a fleet composed of the heavy cruiser Canarias, the light cruiser Méndez Núñez and the destroyers Churruca, Almirante Miranda, Escaño, Gravina and José Luis Díez took part in a show of force off the port of Agadir, aiming their guns at different targets in the port. [4] [5]
She was retired from service in 1970, being the last Churruca-class destroyer to do so.
The Battle of Cape Palos, also known as the Second Battle of Cape Palos, was the biggest naval battle of the Spanish Civil War, fought on the night of March 5–6, 1938, east of Cape Palos near Cartagena, Spain.
The Battle of Cape Spartel was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican 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.
The Battle of Cape Cherchell was a naval battle between the Nationalist heavy cruiser Baleares and the Spanish Republican Navy light cruisers Libertad and Méndez Núñez in the Spanish Civil War, several miles north of the Algerian city of Cherchell. In the early morning hours of 7 September 1937, Baleares unexpectedly met a Republican convoy consisting of two merchant ships escorted by Republican cruisers and destroyers. Baleares was beaten off and badly damaged in the engagement, but the merchantmen were lost when they tried to slip away along the Algerine shoreline.
The Canarias class was a class of heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy. Two ships of the class were completed in the 1930s. They were built in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval upon a British design, and were a modified version of the Royal Navy′s County class. The two ships completed, Canarias and Baleares, both saw service during the Spanish Civil War, the latter being sunk.
The Churruca class was a Spanish destroyer class built for the Spanish Navy based on a British design. Eighteen ships were built, with two being sold to Argentina and commonly referred to as the Cervantes class. The last two members of the class are sometimes referred to as a separate class, the Alava class.
Sánchez Barcáiztegui was a Churruca-class destroyer of the Spanish Republican Navy. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the government of the Second Spanish Republic.
Almirante Ferrándiz was a Churruca-class destroyer in the Spanish Republican Navy. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the government side.
Lepanto was a Churruca-class destroyer of the Spanish Republican Navy. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the government of the Second Spanish Republic. She was named after the Battle of Lepanto.
The Almirante Cervera class were three light cruisers built for the Spanish Navy in the 1920s. The ships were built by Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval in Ferrol which had strong British links and were designed by Sir Philip Watts. The design was based on the British Emerald-class cruiser, but had all boilers grouped together reducing the number of funnels to two. The main armament comprised Vickers pattern 6-inch guns with single mountings in "A" and "Y" positions and twin turrets in "B", "Q" and "X" positions. The programme was initially authorised in 1915 but was delayed by World War I with construction of the first ship starting in 1917.
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.
José Luis Díez was a Churruca-class destroyer in the Spanish Republican Navy. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the government side.
Almirante Cervera was a light cruiser and lead ship of the Almirante Cervera class of the Spanish Navy. She was named after the Spanish admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete, commander of the Spanish naval forces in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. She was part of the Spanish Republican Navy between 1931 and 1936, year in which she became a key player of the Nationalist Fleet in the Spanish Civil War.
Baleares was a Canarias-class heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy whose control was taken by the Nationalist side during the Spanish Civil War. The two ships of the class were built upon a British design and were a modified version of the Royal Navy′s County class. Baleares was constructed in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval, and saw service during the Spanish Civil War, when she was torpedoed and sunk by destroyers of the Spanish Republican Navy during the Battle of Cape Palos.
The Cartagena uprising took place 4–7 March 1939 during the Spanish Civil War. The troop transport SS Castillo de Olite was sunk during the revolt.
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.
Miguel Buiza Fernández-Palacios was a Spanish Navy officer best known for being the commander of the Spanish Republican Navy during the Spanish Civil War. He died in exile in Marseille in 1963.
Luis González de Ubieta y González del Campillo was an admiral of the Spanish Republican Navy during the Spanish Civil War. He died in exile as the captain of the Panamanian merchant vessel Chiriqui, refusing to be rescued when the ship under his command sank in the Caribbean Sea not far from Barranquilla.
Almirante Antequera (AA) was a 2nd series Churruca-class destroyer that fought on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War and, after the war, joined the post-war Spanish Navy. She was named after Juan Bautista Antequera y Bobadilla, a vice admiral and Spanish Minister of the Navy.
Miguel de Cervantes was an Almirante Cervera-class light cruiser that served in the Spanish Navy. She fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side, before joining the post-war Spanish Navy. She was ordered by a Royal Decree on 31 March 1926, as part of a naval construction project headed by Counter Admiral Honorio Cornejo.