Almirante Cervera-class cruiser


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. It has often been stated that the design was based on the British, but this seems not in fact to have been the case, although they were clearly an inspiration for the concept of the Spanish ships. 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.
Galicia and Miguel de Cervantes had substantial refits in the 1940s. The 6-inch turret in "Q" position was replaced by a catapult for a seaplane and the single 6-inch mountings were replaced by twins to retain an 8 gun broadside. Extra AA guns were fitted in all three ships.

Ships

ShipLaid downLaunchedCommissionedFate
/ Libertad / Galicia27 November 19223 January 192520 September 1927Stricken Feb 1970
14 April 192316 October 192515 September 1927Stricken 31 August 1965
March 192618 May 192810 Feb 1930Stricken 1 July 1964

Service history

Principe Alfonso conveyed King Alfonso XIII on several foreign tours in the late 1920s and in 1931 took him to exile in Italy. During the Spanish Civil War, renamed Libertad, she served in the Spanish Republican Navy and was interned in Bizerte, French Tunisia, at the end of the conflict. She returned to Spain in 1939 and was renamed Galicia. Miguel de Cervantes was also part the Republican fleet during the civil war and was torpedoed by the in 1936. The ship was interned in Bizerte and returned to Spain. She was badly damaged by fire in 1943 and repaired. She represented Spain in the Coronation Fleet Review in 1953. Almirante Cervera served on the Nationalist side in the civil war and was present in most of the major battles.