Spanish cruiser Aragon
 An Aragon-class (here called Castilla-class) cruiser in the 1880s or 1890s, showing the appearance of Aragon | |
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | Aragon |
| Namesake: | The Kingdom of Aragon |
| Ordered: | January 1869 |
| Builder: | Naval shipyard at Cartagena, Spain |
| Laid down: | 2 May 1869 |
| Launched: | 31 July 1879 |
| Completed: | 1880 |
| Decommissioned: | mid-1890s |
| Fate: | Hulked 1896. Either sold for scrap 1900[1] or stricken c. 1905[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Aragon-class |
| Type: | unprotected cruiser |
| Displacement: | 3,289 tons |
| Length: | 236 ft 0 in (71.93 m) |
| Beam: | 44 ft 0 in (13.41 m) |
| Draft: | 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) maximum |
| Installed power: | 1,400 ihp |
| Propulsion: | 1-shaft, 3-cylinder, horizontal compound |
| Sail plan: | barque-rigged |
| Speed: | 14 knots |
| Range: | 1,660 nautical miles (3,074 km) |
| Complement: | 392 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: | none |
| Notes: | 460 tons of coal (normal) |
Aragon was an Aragon-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy in the late 19th century.
Technical Characteristics
Aragon was built at the naval shipyard at Cartagena, Spain. Her construction as an armored corvette with a central battery ironclad design began on 2 May 1869, with plans to give her 890 tons of armor and 500 mm (19.7 inches) of armor at the waterline. Political events delayed her construction. In 1870, her design was changed to that of an unprotected cruiser or wooden corvette,[1][3] and she finally was launched in this form on 31 July 1879 and completed in 1880[1] Her original conception as an armored ship and the change to an unarmored one during construction left her with an overly heavy wooden hull that was obsolescent by the time of her launch.[4]
Designed for colonial service,[3] she had two funnels and was rigged as a barque.[4] Her machinery was manufactured by the John Penn Company of Greenwich, United Kingdom.[1] The original main battery of Armstrong-built 8-inch (203-mm) guns was obsolescent when she was completed, and were quickly replaced with more modern Hontoria-built 6.4-inch (163-mm) guns (a heavier main battery than that carried by her two sisters Castilla and Navarra), at least four of which were mounted in sponsons.[4]
Operational history
In the 1890s, Aragon was assigned to the Cadiz Naval Group. She went out of service in the mid-1890s, became a floating hulk in 1896. Sources differ on her ultimate fate; either she was sold for scrap in 1900[1] or sticken c. 1905[4]
Notes
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 Spanish-American War Centennial Website: Spanish Wooden Cruisers
- Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Spanish Navy Ships: Aragon (Cruiser, 1879–1900)