Protected Cruiser (1888) USS Charleston (C-2) was the second British-designed cruiser (after Baltimore) in the early years of the “new navy”, purchased from Armstrong, Mitchell and Co. in Newcastle to follow the “ABC” cruisers with better protection, higher speed, and similar armament but as a way to keep up with the latest techniques in naval … Read more
Armada (1895-1932) Emperador Carlos V was an armored cruiser of the Armada (Spanish Navy) in service from 1898 to 1933. She was built on the budget reserved for torpedo boats and recycled into a 9,000-ton cruiser inspired by the British Blake class, intended to replace battleships in distant stations, like Cuba. This cruiser was designed … Read more
USA (1893): Pre-dreadnought Battleship BB-4 1895-1923 USS Iowa marked an improvement over the previous Indiana-class with better seaworthiness due to greater freeboard and more efficient artillery arrangement. Her four 12-inch (305 mm) guns were still in two twin-gun turrets, but the secondary battery of eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns were better placed. She was quickly … Read more
Armada (1880-1927): Velasco, Gravina, Infanta Isabel, Isabel II, Cristóbal Colón, Don Juan de Austria, Don Antonio de Ulloa, Conde del Venadito The Velasco class were eight unprotected cruisers built in the 1880s for the Armada (Spanish Navy) built in two different subclasses. The first batch composed of Velasco and Gravina were typical Vickers Armstrong style … Read more
Armada (1880-1905): Aragón, Navarra, Castilla The Aragon class were three unprotected wooden-built cruisers between 1869 and 1882 for the Spanish Navy and named after historical kingdoms or regions of Spain as they were initially designed as central battery ironclads but modified after constrtuction started, as unprotected masted cruisers, and later completely rearmed. Construction time thus … Read more
USA – Armoured Cruiser 1888-1898 USS Maine was the first USN armoured cruiser made famous by the war she indirectly caused to break out in 1898 while expdoding in Havana Harbor on February 15. A well-organized and focused U.S. press campaign, through “yellow journalism” contributed to a situation that was already degraded bewteen the Spanish … Read more
Spanish Armada (1888-1898): Armoured Cruisers Infanta Maria Teresa, Vizcaya, Almirante Oquendo If it is a dubious privilege to have three cruisers of the same class sunk the same day, the Infanta Maria Teresa class shared it with other examples, as Cressy, Hogue Aboukir in WWI, three of the Zara class at Matapan in 1941 and … Read more
Cristóbal Colón (1896) Spanish Armada (1894-1898): Armoured Cruiser The Spanish armored cruiser Cristóbal Colón was a warship that was built for the Spanish Navy in the late 19th century. It was launched in 1896 and commissioned in 1897. The ship was part of a naval program that aimed to modernize the Spanish Navy and increase … Read more
Spanish pre-dreadnought Battleship (1885-1929) Pelayo was a French-built Battleship, first modern one in service with the Armada. A fitting subject for the 12 October, Spanish National Day and Feria. Pelayo was also the most robust proposition of the whole Spanish Navy when the 1898 broke out. She stayed to defend the homeland, together with several … Read more
US Protected Cruiser, 1890 – today Introduction: The birth of the “new navy” When the first Cleveland Administration took office in 1885, Navy Secretary William Collins Whitney decided to maintain the previous modernization program under the Arthur Administration, at the time it was still far from power projection, limited to commerce raiding only (in part … Read more
