Spanish destroyer Lepanto

Last updated
Destructor Lepanto (LT).jpg
Destroyer Lepanto
History
Flag of Spain (1785-1873, 1875-1931).svgFlag of Spain (1931-1939).svgFlag of Spain (1938-1945).svgSpain
Name Lepanto
Namesake Battle of Lepanto
Builder SECN, Naval Dockyard, Cartagena, Spain
Launched7 November 1929
Completed1930
Commissioned1930
Decommissioned24 May 1957
Honours and
awards
Distintivo de Madrid-1938.png Distintivo de Madrid 1938
FateScrapped in 1958
General characteristics
Class and type Churruca-class destroyer
Displacement1,650 tons (normal); 2,067 tons (maximum)
Length101 m (331 ft 4 in)
Beam9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
Installed power4 Yarrow boilers, 42,000 hp (31,000 kW)
Propulsion2 Parsons turbines
Speed36 knots (67 km/h)
Range
  • 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
  • 3,100 nautical miles (5,700 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement160
Armament

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.

Contents

Civil War

Lepanto saw a lot of action during the Spanish Civil War. At the start of the hostilities she was involved in the blockade of the Gibraltar Strait to prevent the rebel transport of troops from Spanish Morocco to southern Spain. In the course of these operations she was damaged by rebel aircraft on 5 August 1936, a couple of hours before the convoy known as Convoy de la victoria successfully broke the Republican blockade. [1] In September she joined the squadron which sailed to the Bay of Biscay in support of Republican forces isolated on the northern front. For most of 1937 the destroyer was on convoy duty. While involved in one of these missions, Lepanto took part of the Battle of Cape Cherchell.

At the Battle of Cape Palos, Lepanto together with Sánchez Barcáiztegui and Almirante Antequera, broke away from escorting the cruiser Libertad and fired three torpedoes at the Nationalist heavy cruiser Baleares. Since Lepanto was likely responsible for the fatal hit in the forward magazine that sank the enemy cruiser, she was awarded the Distintivo de Madrid along with other loyalist vessels. [2]

On 5 March 1939, their crews hoping to avoid execution, Lepanto fled Cartagena with the Republican squadron bound for Bizerte, Tunisia, arriving on 11 March. The next day, Commander of the Fleet Miguel Buiza asked for political asylum and the ships were requisitioned by the French authorities and left in the custody by a few crewmen, the rest being held in a prison camp at Meheri Zabbens. Later the rebel transports Mallorca and Marqués de Comillas arrived 31 March 1939 with new crews to take over the ships.

Post war

On 2 April 1939, just 24 hours after official end of the Civil War, Lepanto and her sister ships which had fought for the Republic sailed back to Spain with new Nationalist crews. They arrived in Cadiz on 5 April.

Participating in an antisubmarine warfare exercise on 27 July 1940, Lepanto operated in company with destroyers Alcalá Galiano and Churruca against submarines C2, C4, and General Mola. 24 kilometres (13 nmi) off Morro de la Vaca, Lepanto was running at 14 knots (26 km/h) when C4 broached a few metres off her bow. Unable to change course in time, she ran down the submarine, hitting her broadside between her conning tower and deck gun, cutting C4 in two. C4, commanded at the time by Capitan de Corbeta (Lieutenant Commander) Francisco Reina Carvajal, went down in 300 metres (980 ft) of water. All 44 of her crew were lost with her.

Lepanto was decommissioned 24 May 1957 and scrapped in 1958.

Notes

  1. Alpert, Michael (2008). La guerra civil española en el mar (in Spanish). p. 98. ISBN   978-84-8432-975-6.
  2. Domingo, Enrique García. "Recompensas republicanas por el hundimiento del Baleares" (PDF). Revista de Historia Naval 1997, Año XV (in Spanish). p. 70. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 15, 2013.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Cape Palos (1938)</span> Biggest naval battle of the Spanish Civil War

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Cape Cherchell</span> Naval battle in the Spanish Civil War

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.

<i>Canarias</i>-class cruiser Class of heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy

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.

<i>Churruca</i>-class destroyer (1927) Destroyer class of the Spanish Navy

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.

Spanish destroyer <i>Sánchez Barcáiztegui</i>

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.

Spanish destroyer <i>Almirante Ferrándiz</i> (1928)

Almirante Ferrándiz was a Churruca-class destroyer in the Spanish Republican Navy. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the government side.

<i>Júpiter</i>-class minelayer

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.

Spanish destroyer <i>José Luis Díez</i>

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.

Spanish cruiser <i>Almirante Cervera</i> Almirante Cervera-class cruiser

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.

Spanish cruiser <i>Baleares</i> Canarias-class heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy

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.

MV <i>Mar Negro</i>

Mar Negro was an armed merchantman of the Nationalist Spanish Navy during the Spanish Civil War. The cargo ship was launched in 1930 along with her sister ship MV Mar Cantábrico, and after five years with the Compañía Marítima Del Nervión company, she was first requisitioned by the Spanish Republican Navy in 1936. Captured by a group of Nationalist sympathizers from her crew off Algeria in 1937, she entered in service in 1938 after being converted to an auxiliary cruiser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convoy de la Victoria</span> Spanish naval battle during the Spanish Civil War

The Convoy de la Victoria was a Spanish naval battle on 5 August 1936 in the Strait of Gibraltar during the Spanish Civil War, between the escort of a Nationalist convoy and the Republican Navy destroyer Alcalá Galiano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Republican Navy</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laureate Plate of Madrid</span> Award

The Laureate Badge of Madrid was the highest military award for gallantry of the Second Spanish Republic. It was awarded in recognition of action, either individual or collective, to protect the nation and its citizens in the face of immediate risk to the bearer or bearers' life. Those eligible were members of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces and testimonies of reliable witnesses were checked prior to concession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis González de Ubieta</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madrid Distinction</span> Award

The Madrid Distinction was one of the highest military awards of the Second Spanish Republic. It was a decoration related to the Laureate Plate of Madrid. which was established by the Second Spanish Republic in order to reward courage. In the same manner as the Laureate Plate it was named after Madrid, the capital of Spain, owing to the city symbolizing valour and the defence of the Spanish Republic during the long Siege of Madrid throughout the Spanish Civil War.

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.

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.

Spanish cruiser <i>Miguel de Cervantes</i>

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.

References