 Reina Regente in 1912 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Spain | |
| Name | Reina Regente |
| Namesake | Queen Regent Maria Christina |
| Ordered | 1896 |
| Laid down | 27 March 1897 |
| Launched | 20 September 1906 |
| Commissioned | 1908 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1926 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 5,287 t (5,203long tons) |
| Length | 102.71 m (337 ft) |
| Beam | 16.12 m (52 ft 11 in) |
| Draft | 6.06 m (19 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power | 15,000indicated horsepower (11,000 kW) |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 20knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Crew | 497 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
Reina Regente was aprotected cruiser built for theSpanish Navy in the 1900s, the only member of herclass. She had a very lengthy construction period, beinglaid down in 1897,launched in 1906, and finally completed in 1908. The last cruiser built in Spain for nearly twenty years, she was armed with a battery of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and was capable of a top speed of 20knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).Reina Regente's career was uneventful, the result of limited naval budgets and Spain's neutrality duringWorld War I. In the early 1920s, she was employed as atraining ship until she was discarded in 1926.
Reina Regente was 102.71 meters (337 ft) long, and she had abeam of 16.12 m (52 ft 11 in) and adraft of 6.06 m (19 ft 11 in). She displaced 5,287metric tons (5,203long tons). Powered by a pair oftriple expansion steam engines rated at 15,000indicated horsepower (11,000 kW), the ship was capable of a top speed of 20knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Her coal-fired boilers, the number of which and their type are not known, were trunked into threefunnels. She had a coal storage capacity of 1,200 t (1,181 long tons). Her crew numbered 497 officers and enlisted men, and she was fitted with two polemasts equipped withfighting tops.[1]
The ship was armed with amain battery of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) TRGonzales de Rueda guns that were manufactured bySchneider-Creusot.[2] Four were mounted in twingun turrets, one mounted on either end of the ship, with the remainder incasemates in the upper deck.[1] The turret guns were carried in individual cradles, which allowed them to be elevated and fired independently. They were supplied with 40 kg (88 lb)armor-piercing shells at amuzzle velocity of 800 m/s (2,600 ft/s).[3] Hersecondary battery consisted of twelve6-pounder guns and a pair of1-pounders. She also carried eightmachine guns. Her armament was rounded out by threetorpedo tubes.Reina Regente was protected by an armored deck that was 3.5 in (89 mm) thick. Herconning tower was protected by the same thickness of armor plate. Thegun shields for the 15 cm guns were 3 in (76 mm) thick.[1]
Reina Regente was built inFerrol, Spain; she was proposed in 1896,[1][4]laid down on 27 March 1897,[5] andlaunched on 20 September 1906.Fitting-out work proceeded slowly, and the ship finally entered service in 1908, after more than a decade of construction.[1][4] In the aftermath of Spain's defeat in theSpanish–American War of 1898, the country's economy proved to be too weak to support a significant naval expansion program.[6] As a result,Reina Regente was the last cruiser built for the Spanish Navy for nearly two decades, until thelight cruiserReina Victoria Eugenia was laid down in 1915.[7]
The ship traveled to Britain in June 1911 to represent the country at the coronationfleet review for the new king,George V, held atSpithead on the 24th. The fleet included vessels from fifteen other countries in addition to theRoyal Navy.[8] On 15 November 1911,Reina Regente was present inGibraltar for a port call made by George V during his trip to India.[9]Reina Regente traveled toConstantinople, the capital of theOttoman Empire, in late 1912. The ship was sent there, along with warships from most of the other European powers, to protect Spanish nationals during theFirst Balkan War that pitted the Ottomans against theBalkan League. The international fleet sent a total force of around 3,000 men ashore in Constantinople on 18 November, but by the end of the month, the BulgarianÇatalca offensive had broken down, indicating that acease fire would soon be needed.[10] She was anchored off theGolden Horn in December during diplomatic negotiations withChaim Nahum, theGrand Rabbi of the Ottoman Empire. Nahum was invited aboard the ship to inspect the vessel during the discussions.[11] The European warships remained in theSea of Marmara before being withdrawn toCrete in theAegean Sea by February 1913.[10]
In June 1913,Reina Regente was sent to assist thegunboatGeneral Concha, which hadrun aground off the coast ofSpanish Morocco; the latter vessel had come under fire from locals opposed to Spanish colonial rule.Reina Regente bombarded the attackers, fourteen of whom were killed, and numerous others were wounded.[12] Spain remained neutral afterWorld War I broke out in July 1914, andReina Regente's service during the conflict was uneventful compared to her foreign contemporaries.[13] In August, the Spanish government arrestedMarcelino Domingo, an elected deputy in theCortes Generales, over his involvement in domestic unrest inBarcelona. He was held for a time in solitary confinement aboardReina Regente.[14]
In the post-war period, she was used as atraining ship and sent on overseas cruises.[13] In 1920, she embarked on one such cruise to South American waters, and during a visit to Argentina in November, she was visited by the Argentine president,Hipólito Yrigoyen, and several government ministers.[15] The cruise lasted into 1921, and in January, she stopped inRio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she met the Italian battleshipRoma and the British cruiserHMS Southampton.[16]Reina Regente was in home waters in early 1923, when the recent British prime minister,David Lloyd George, visited Spain with his family. The Spanish government made the ship available to take the group fromSeville toCeuta in North Africa.[17] The ship was eventually stricken from thenaval register in 1926 andbroken up for scrap.[13]
