| Spanish cruiser Velasco | |
|---|---|
 An unidentified Velasco-class (here called "Infanta Isabel-class") cruiser in U.S. waters during the 1880s or 1890s, showing the appearance of Velasco | |
| Career |  |
| Name: | Velasco |
| Namesake: | Velasco |
| Builder: | Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. |
| Launched: | 1881 |
| Fate: | Sunk 1 May 1898 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Velasco-class |
| Type: | unprotected cruiser |
| Displacement: | 1,152 tons |
| Length: | 210 ft 0 in (64.01 m) |
| Beam: | 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 8 in (4.17 m) maximum |
| Installed power: | 1,500 ihp |
| Propulsion: | 1-shaft, horizontal compound, 4-cylinder boilers |
| Sail plan: | barque-rigged |
| Speed: | 13 knots |
| Complement: | 173 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
4 x 6 in (152 mm) guns 2 × 3 in (76.2 mm) guns 2 x machine guns 2 × 14 inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes |
| Armor: | none |
| Notes: | 200 to 220 tons of coal (normal) |
Velasco was a Velasco-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy which fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
Technical Characteristics[]
Velasco was built by the Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. at Leamouth, London in the United Kingdom, as the lead ship of a new class of eight Spanish unprotected cruisers. Her keel was laid in 1881. She had one rather tall funnel. She had an iron hull and was rigged as a barque. She and the second ship of the class, Gravina, also built in the United Kingdom, were differently armed from and slightly faster than the final six ships of the class, all of which were built in Spain.
Operational history[]
The wreck of Velasco.
When the Spanish-American War began in April 1898, Velasco was anchored in Manila Bay off the Cavite Peninsula as part of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasaron's Pacific Squadron. In the Battle of Manila Bay, she was still anchored there when the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron attacked Montojo's squadron on 1 May 1898. She was sunk in the battle.
The view looking forward from the poop deck aboard the wreck of Velasco.
References[]
- Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Eds. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York, New York: Mayflower Books Inc., 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Nofi, Albert A. The Spanish-American War, 1898. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania:Combined Books, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0-938289-57-8.
External links[]
The original article can be found at Spanish cruiser Velasco and the edit history here.