Almirante Cervera-class cruiser

Almirante Cervera in 1927
Class overview
Name:	Almirante Cervera class
Builders:	Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval, Ferrol
Operators:	Spanish Navy
Preceded by:	Blas de Lezo class
Succeeded by:	Canarias class
Completed:	3
Retired:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Cruiser
Displacement:	7,475 long tons (7,595 t) standard 9,237 long tons (9,385 t) full load
Length:	579 ft (176 m)
Beam:	54 ft (16 m)
Draught:	16 ft 6 in (5.03 m)
Propulsion:	4 shafts, Parsons-type geared turbines, 8 Yarrow-type boilers, 80,000 hp (60,000 kW)
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range:	5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	564
Armament:	8 × 6-inch (152 mm) guns 3 twin turrets and two single mountings 4 × 4-inch (102 mm) guns 3 47 mm guns 12 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes in triple tubes above water
Armour:	Belt 3–2 in (76–51 mm) Deck 1–2 in (25–51 mm) Conning tower 6 in (150 mm)

The Almirante Cervera class (or Alfonso 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. The design was based on the British Emerald-class cruiser, but had all boilers grouped together reducing the number of funnels to two. 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

Ship	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Principe Alfonso / Libertad / Galicia	27 July 1922	30 August 1925	Stricken Feb 1970
Almirante Cervera	16 October 1925	May 1927	Stricken 1966
Miguel de Cervantes	17 May 1929	10 Feb 1930	Stricken 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 she served in the Spanish Republican Navy and was interned in Bizerte at the end of the conflict. She returned to Spain in 1939 and was renamed Galicia. Miguel de Cervantes (named after poet Miguel de Cervantes) was also part the Republican fleet during the civil war and was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Torricelli 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 (named after Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete) served on the Nationalist side in the civil war and was present in most of the major battles.

References

• Whitley MJ. Cruisers of World War 2: an International Encyclopedia
• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946

External links

• Buques De Guerra, a Spanish website about warships (Spanish)