|
High resolution picture
High resolution picture
|
The Numancia, launched in 1863, was a French-built ironclad ordered and commissioned by the Spanish Navy. This ship is considered
the most important attempt to return the Spanish Navy to the prime position lost after the disaster of Trafalgar in 1805 and the
Peninsular War of 1808. The Numancia enjoyed a long life, for the situation of the Spanish Navy only allowed to decommission
ships when they were totally useless. So, this remarkable warship took part in every important event in which the Spanish Navy
was involved during the last third of the 19th century. And she was the first ironclad that performed a circumnavigation
around the Earth.
The Numancia was as well the first warship built with an all-iron hull that served in the Spanish Navy. The French shipyards, which
few years ago had built the Gloire, created a ship that looked much like that one but was rather technically superior. As a
whole, we can consider the Numancia as equivalent to the HMS Warrior. While the British ship had a slightly superior firepower and
better performance on propulsion power, the Numancia featured a more effective armor scheme. As in previous French ironclads, the
rigging was of lesser importance than in British counterparts. The Numancia had capacity for 1100 tonnes of coal, which could keep
the steam engine running during twelve days at economic speed.
Already in 1910, the military value of the Numancia was obviously null and she was kept as a floating battery in Tanger until
1912, when she was decommissioned. In 1911 her crew had started a mutiny, attributable to the unrest caused by the rotten
political situation that Spain had been carrying from the previous century. A popular movement tried to preserve the prominent
vessel as a museum ship, but sadly the attempt failed. Finally, while in route towards a scrapyard in Bilbao, the Numancia
resulted stranded near the coasts of Portugal in the last days of 1916. Thus, the ship had to be scrapped in situ, remaining
to this day a few leftovers several meters under the sea.
Class: Numancia (1 unit - Numancia)
Type: Ironclad
Length: 96.1 meters
Beam: 17.3 meters
Draught: 7.9 meters
Displacement (standard): 7500 tonnes
Sail area: 1846 square meters
Propulsion: 1 x shaft, 1 x return connecting rod compound steam engine, 8 x boiler, 3770 indicated horsepower
Speed: 13 knots (24 kilometers/hour)
Range: 3000 nautical miles (5600 kilometers) at 10 knots
Fuel: 1100-1700 tonnes of coal
Complement: 561
Armament (as designed): 40 x 68-pound muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon
Armament (as commissioned): 34 x 68-pound muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon
Armor: 100-130 millimeters in belt, 120 millimeters in battery
|
