Baleares (1936)
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | July 13, 1926 |
| Keel laying | August 15, 1928 |
| Launch | April 20, 1932 |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| Commissioning | December 28, 1936 |
| Decommissioning | March 6, 1938 |
| Whereabouts | Sunk in the Battle of Cabo de Palos |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement | |
| length |
194 m |
| width |
19.5 m |
| Draft |
6.5 m |
| crew |
800 |
| drive |
8 steam boilers |
| speed |
33 kn (~ 61 km / h) |
| Range |
8,000 nm (~ 14,816 km) at 15 kn (~ 27.8 km / h) |
| Armament |
8 × 203 mm guns |
The Baleares was a Spanish national heavy cruiser and the second ship of its class to be completed. It was a so-called Washington type based on the Washington Naval Agreement of 1922. It was incorporated into the Spanish national fleet before its completion in order to be used in the Spanish Civil War . After only 14 months of service, she was sunk on March 6, 1938 in the Battle of Cabo de Palos .
technology
The Baleares was about 194 meters long, 19.5 meters wide and, with an operational displacement of 10,000 ts, had a draft of almost 6.5 meters. The 90,000 hp engine system drove four propellers and brought the ship to a top speed of 33 knots .
The offensive armament of the Baleares consisted of eight 203 mm guns L / 50 and twelve 553 mm torpedo tubes , the defensive armament of eight 120 mm guns (L / 45) and eight 40 mm anti-aircraft guns.
The armor was between 50 mm and 100 mm thick along the waterline, 100 mm at the level of the ammunition bunkers, the deck armor was between 20 mm and 75 mm thick and that of the turrets was 25 mm.
Initially, an airplane catapult for a seaplane was also planned. However, this plan was rejected.
period of service
Construction and commissioning
The Baleares corresponded with its specifications throughout the Washington Naval Agreement and leaned against the concept of time in the Royal Navy under construction County class of, even as the only appropriate Spanish Shipyard Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval majority was British-owned. On August 15, 1928, the Baleares was laid at the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval in Ferrol and on April 20, 1932 she was launched .
The Spanish Civil War broke out on July 18, 1936 , and five days later, Ferrol, the Baleares and her sister ship, the Canarias , fell into the hands of the Spanish national troops. The work was far behind schedule, and so the work was accelerated so that the ship can be used as soon as possible. The construction suffered from a lack of material due to the war , and when the Baleares was handed over to the navy on December 15, 1936 in Ferrol, some facilities such as targeting devices were still missing , the aft 203 mm turret was missing and the secondary armament consisted of four 120 mm and four Italian 100 mm anti-aircraft guns. The fourth tower was only installed in June 1937.
Coastal fire near Málaga
On February 4, 1937, the Baleares left Ceuta and united with the Canarias to support the land attack on Málaga . On the same day, she opened fire on Republican planes several times. The following day, it bombed several coastal targets and was attacked by aircraft six times. The Baleares managed to shoot down one of the attackers. On February 6, they shelled the road between Fuengirola and Málaga and a temporary airfield on the coast. Another attack by the Republican Air Force took place without consequences. The next day it was used against troop concentration and other targets, while on February 8th it again set fire to roads and vehicles, this time around Torrox . On February 10, the first combat mission of the Baleares ended .
Battle at Cape Culleras
On July 11, 1937, the Baleares left the port of Porto Pí (Palma de Mallorca) to intercept the Isla de Gran Canarias , which was loaded with war material for the Republican side . Since the Canarias was being repaired in Cádiz , the Baleares was on its own and could not afford any fighting with the republican fleet. On the morning of July 12, the Baleares sighted four enemy destroyers at 6:22 am near Cape Culleras , which were escorting two merchant ships. The Baleares opened fire on the destroyers, who put up the fog curtains and zigzagged south. Shortly thereafter, they were reinforced by two more destroyers. Neither the Baleares nor the destroyers scored and the merchant ships were able to escape to the shelter of the coastal batteries . After two hours, the meeting was canceled with no result. Since the six destroyers had not succeeded, despite their numerical superiority, to put the cruiser under greater pressure, the commander of the republican destroyer flotilla Vicente Ramírez was replaced.
Battle at Cherchell
The nationalists had received information that a convoy was ready in Algiers to bring supplies for the Republicans to Spain. The Baleares and Canarias were dispatched to intercept him. On September 6, 1937, the Canarias went to Ceuta to refuel, leaving the Baleares alone. On the same day, the cruisers Libertad and Méndez Nuñez and seven destroyers left for Algiers to provide escort to the convoy. On the morning of 7 September, the fleet arrived at 10:15 on the Baleares . An artillery duel ensued in which the Baleares received two hits. The Republican fleet broke off the action and changed course so as not to stray too far from the convoy. At 11:25 a.m., the Baleares met the escort again and the fire resumed. Shortly afterwards, the Baleares lost contact. She later received a radio message announcing an air strike on the enemy ships. The attack had no consequences, but the noise of the explosion brought the Baleares back on the trail of the enemy. At 5:07 p.m., she opened fire again, but again failed to score. The Baleares broke off the fight to unite with the Canarias that had left the port of Ceuta and were on their way. The Republican ships turned to pick up the convoy. However, this had dissolved because it had come too close to the coast. One ship ran aground, the others had taken refuge in the Algerian port of Cherchell . The republican admiral Buiza decided not to seek battle with the Baleares and returned to Cartagena . At 7:12 p.m. there was an unsuccessful republican air raid on the Baleares .
The battle at Cherchell was considered a victory by the nationalists because the strategic goal of preventing the supply of supplies had been achieved. The republican admiral Buiza had failed to order a destroyer attack on the defeated Baleares , and was replaced by González Ubieta.
Battle of Cabo de Palos
On Saturday, March 5th, 1938, the Republican fleet left Cartagena to attack the port of Palma de Mallorca . The plan stipulated that three torpedo boats should enter the port and surprise the Spanish national fleet there. The torpedo boats should be protected by destroyers of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla , the Ulloa , Jorge Juan , Escaño and the Almirante Valdés , who would follow to the port entrance. The destroyers, in turn, were to be covered by the light cruisers Libertad and Méndez Nuñez and the 2nd destroyer flotilla consisting of Sánchez Barcaáiztegui , Almirante Antequetera , Lepanto , Gravina and Lazaga . From 3:40 p.m. to 5:06 p.m., the fleet set off in stages. At 5:11 p.m. the fleet received the message that the torpedo boats had returned to port on the orders of their Soviet commander Alafusow because the sea was allegedly too strong. In the opinion of the fleet commissioner of the fleet, Bruno Alonso, the reason was only advanced because Alafusov did not trust himself. Ubieta asked for his removal. The fleet could not return to port immediately and so Ubieta let them cruise at sea.
On the same day, the two Spanish national heavy cruisers, accompanied by the light cruiser Almirante Cervera, set sail from Palma . The Baleares , which normally should have a crew of 800 men, had, according to archive the Armada Española 1,223 men on board. These were sailors from other units who were to be brought ashore to Cádiz , members of the staff of the cruiser squadron, workers of the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval who were supposed to carry out repairs on the voyage and twelve young members of the Flechas Navales (the naval Youth organization of the Falange Española de las JONS ).
You should, two merchant vessels Umbe-Mendi and the Aizkori-Mendi escort to the Strait of Gibraltar give the weapons and ammunition from Italy brought and their from the gunboats Canalejas and Cánovas and the destroyers Huesca , Teruel and Velasco replace existing escort. At 5:30 p.m., the cruisers reached the small convoy and removed their cover. When night fell, blackout was ordered.
At 0038, the Baleares spotted the silhouettes of several ships on port side at 330 ° . Since both groups drove in the dark, there was no doubt that they were both enemy ships. The Spanish national ships had encountered the republican fleet consisting of two light cruisers (the modern Libertad and the outdated Méndez Núñez ) and five destroyers ( Gravina , Lazaga , Sánchez Barcaiztegui , Almirante Antequera and Lepanto ). Both fleets were surprised, they assumed that the other was still in port. The Spanish national fleet initially wrongly believed in the presence of a submarine , accelerated to 26 knots and initiated evasive maneuvers. The Sánchez Barcaiztegui shot two torpedoes at the Almirante Cervera without getting a hit. At 01:09 a.m. Vierna decided to bypass the merchant ships in order to fend off a possible destroyer attack on them. This was a daring maneuver, as the size of the cruisers made them easier targets for the destroyers than the other way around.
The two fleets lost sight of each other, and at 0125 Admiral Vierna resumed its original course of 220 ° (heading southwest ). At 02:00 a.m. the fleet set course for 40 ° (heading northeast ), 15 minutes later it changed its course again to 220 ° so as not to deviate too far from the slower merchant ships, and a few minutes later it met the Republican again Fleet.
At 02:14 a.m., the Republican destroyer Sanchéz Barcáiztegui perceived optical signals from the opposing fleet, and the Republican lead ship Libertad gave the order to fire. Canarias and Baleares fired flares to illuminate the targets and opened fire with grenades without getting a hit. Libertad and Méndez Núñez immediately returned fire and scored a hit on the deck of the Baleares . During this cruiser duel, the three republican destroyers, Sanchéz Barcáiztegui , Lepanto and Almirante Antequera approached the Spanish national cruisers and shot down a fan of twelve torpedoes at 3,000 meters . The Sánchez Barcaiztegui fired four, the Almirante Antequera five and the Lepanto three. At around 0220, an unknown number of torpedoes hit the Baleares port on the level of the bridge . The ammunition bunkers were in this area. There was a powerful explosion, which was followed by more. Parts of the bridge and chimney flew through the air, and the mast fell on turrets three and four. The Baleares remained idle with no electricity and quickly leaned over to port as fire broke out and detonated anti-aircraft ammunition and fuel tanks. Since Rear Admiral de Vierna had died in the explosion, the captain of the Canarias Rafael Estrada Arnaiz took command, accelerated to 29 knots and took a course of 190 ° (heading south ). The two remaining Spanish national cruisers, Almirante Cervera and Canarias , left the sinking Baleares behind and departed with the merchant ships. The Republican cruisers also withdrew after their success and reached Cartagena at 7:50 a.m.
786 seafarers in the Baleares were killed. The wreck lies at 37 ° 52 '18 " N , 0 ° 52' 0" O in 2,515 meters depth on rocky ground.
filming
→ Main article: El Crucero Baleares
As early as 1940 the production of a propaganda film about the history of the Baleares began. It was called El Crucero Baleares and was produced by the RKO's Spanish subsidiary , Radio Films . The film was shot in Madrid, Vigo , Ferrol, Cádiz , San Fernando and Cartagena. The ship scenes were filmed on the sister ship of the Baleares , the Canarias . Special effects were used for the downfall, but recordings of maneuvers and archive images of the Skagerrak Battle were also used for the battle scenes. The recordings began in October 1940 and ended in early March 1941. The premiere party was scheduled for April 12, 1941 at the Cine Born in Madrid. Survivors were invited, newspapers announced the premiere, and the film was advertised with programs and posters. The state censorship had already approved the film, apart from minor complaints. Everything went according to plan until the film was shown in a private screening to a group of senior officers at the Ministry of Navy two days before its premiere. After the screening, an agreement was reached, without giving any reason, to ban the film and to collect and destroy all copies. This process became one of the most spectacular cases of self-censorship in post-war Spain. The reasons for this approach were manifold: the officers were not the implementation of the Spanish Nationalist revolt in the navy and the heroic death of the sailors of the Baleares agree. The fact that the history of the Baleares was provided with an extensive romantic plot and that the incident was only a short time ago were probably reasons.
monument
Just nine days after the sinking of the Baleares , the newspaper "La Ultima Hora" demanded a memorial to commemorate the sunk cruiser and a fundraising campaign was launched. The donors were named in the newspaper and came from Germany and Italy, among others. A tender was held, which was won by the Mallorcan architects Francisco and José Roca Simó and the sculptor José Oertells Cabanellas. The budget was 100,000 pesetas . The monument was built in Sa Feixina Park in the center of Palma de Mallorca and was inaugurated on May 16, 1947 in the presence of Franco. It stands on a 400 square meter platform and consists of a 22 meter high column at the top of which a spotlight forms a large cross with its rays. Originally there was a three-meter-high sculpture of a sailor hugging an anchor with his right arm raised on this column. However, this has disappeared under unexplained circumstances and is no longer available today.
The memorial has repeatedly been the victim of politically motivated vandalism. The first few times it was repaired, but today it is in poor condition. In 1995 there were disputes about the future of the monument in the state and local election campaigns and a number of suggestions as to what should be done with it. To this day, however, it is in its original place in a damaged condition.
There are, or were, other monuments to the Baleares in Llerena , in the Naval Museum in Madrid, in San Sebastián and in Algeciras .
literature
- Alfredo Aguilera: Buques de la Armada Española. Cronicas y Datos del 1885 al Presente. Madrid 1968.
- Jeroni F. Fullan Martorell, Daniel Cota López, Eduardo J. Connolly de Pernas: El crucero "Baleares" (1936-1938). Palma de Mallorca 2000.
Footnotes
- ↑ Passing of a law in parliament that provided for the construction of three cruisers.
- ↑ MJWhitley: Cruiser in World War II. Motorbuch Verlag, ISBN 3-613-01842-X , p. 261.
- ↑ Aguilera, Buques p. 95.
- ↑ Fullan / Cota / Connolly, Crucero in the chapter La Batalla del Cabo de Palos
- ↑ Alonso, Flota p. 106
- ↑ Fullan / Cota / Connolly, Crucero in the chapter EL CRUCERO BALEARES Y EL CINE
- ↑ The film historian Carlos Fernández Cuenca quotes from: Fullan / Cota / Connolly, Crucero in the chapter EL CRUCERO BALEARES Y EL CINE