Canary Islands (C-21)
The Canarias (C-21) was a Canarias-class heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy. Designed by Watts, she was based on the British County class and named the class after her.
Construction
Construction was ordered during the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, the Canarias was laid up at the SECN shipyard in Ferrol on August 15, 1928 and was launched on August 28 May 1931 in the presence of the newly appointed Minister of the Navy, Santiago Casares Quiroga, whose wife was the godmother. On September 27, 1934, she conducted her sea trials with an evaluation commission on board and still without her artillery, She did not enter service until September 1936.
History
Spanish Civil War
He took part in the Spanish civil war on the national side. Its speed of 33 knots, together with its artillery, made it very feared by the ships of the Republic Navy during the civil war, like its twin, the Balearic Islands; it seemed that both of them could appear anywhere at any time. His powerful artillery made him participate in several coastal bombardments, and he participated in naval blockade operations of the Cantabrian Sea, seizing several ships with weapons and supplies for the Republic.
On September 13, its first commander was Francisco Bastarreche. Its first action was in the battle of Cape Espartel, in September 1936, when it sank the Churruca-class destroyer Almirante Ferrándiz in the waters of the Strait, after disabling one of its boilers with an almost impossible shot (the third saves 20 km away), with which the Strait of Gibraltar was left free for the passage of the rebel army from Africa to the peninsula.
On December 12, 1936, the Soviet steamer Komsomol sank off Oran, a sinking that had international repercussions and made the Soviets more reluctant to use their merchant ships in support of the Republic.
On February 8, 1937, during the occupation of Málaga, he participated in the massacre on the Málaga-Almería highway where thousands of civilians were massacred as they fled to Almería. On March 5, 1937, he took part in the battle of Cape Machichaco. On April 25, 1937, together with his sister ship, the Baleares, he harassed the Republic squadron as it entered Cartagena after bombing Malaga. After a short exchange of fire, the coup cruisers moved away to avoid the 380mm shore batteries. On August 15, 1937, she shelled the city of Alicante.
In 1938, it bombarded the port of Barcelona. On March 6, 1938, he participated in the battle of Cabo de Palos, in which the cruiser Baleares was torpedoed and sunk. In August 1938, he intercepted the destroyer José Luis Díez, which was trying to cross into the Mediterranean, forcing him to take refuge in Gibraltar.
World War II
After the German battleship Bismarck was sunk by the British Royal Navy, he went to sea to search for survivors, without success.
Ifni War
It participated in the Ifni war, carrying out coastal bombardments and supporting the ground units besieged by the enemy. On December 7, 1957, a fleet made up of the cruiser Canarias, the cruiser Méndez Núñez and the five destroyers Churruca, Almirante Miranda, Escaño, Gravina and José Luis Díez of the Churruca class carried out a demonstration of force to intimidate the Government of Morocco. They positioned themselves ready for combat in front of the port of Agadir and pointed their guns at various targets in that port, without firing, against the city.
After the conflict, in May 1962, he transferred the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Felipe José Abárzuza y Oliva, to Athens, as extraordinary ambassador of the then head of state Francisco Franco to the wedding of Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón and Sofia from Greece and Denmark
At the beginning of 1963, he was sent in pursuit of the 21,000-ton Portuguese liner Santa María, which, while covering the Caracas-Lisbon-Vigo route, was kidnapped by a commando of the Iberian Revolutionary Directorate of Release, failing to find the ship, who ended up taking refuge in Recife, where the kidnappers received political asylum.
Evacuation of Equatorial Guinea
In 1969, during the diplomatic crisis between Spain and Equatorial Guinea, together with the attack transports Aragón and Castilla, it participated in the evacuation operations from Equatorial Guinea.
Maneuvers and visits
In October 1969, he participated in the Spanish-French Faron IV maneuvers in waters near Barcelona, with the presence of the then Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón aboard the Dédalo.
Shortly thereafter, on November 12, 1969, while she was in Ferrol, there was a slight collision between the Álava (D52) due to a failure in the destroyer's rudder
Withdrawal
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Its crew was more than 1,000 men and, while it was sailing, it was commanded by 43 ship captains and 31 admirals hoisted their flag on it.
It became the most famous unit of the Spanish Navy, of which it was its flagship for almost forty years, in which it underwent many reforms to keep it operational.
She was decommissioned on December 17, 1975, when she was the last Washington (cruisers as reflected in the Washington Naval Treaty) in active service. There were attempts by the cities of Barcelona, Cádiz, Santander, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Ferrol, which were interested in saving it from scrapping and began efforts to obtain its transfer and turn it into a museum ship. None came to fruition, being finally auctioned for scrapping on September 14, 1977, and awarded to the Madrid company Mar S.L. in 62,205,636 pesetas.
In 1980, one of the four propellers of the cruise ship was delivered to the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife for its exhibition in a public park, removing it on February 17, 2022 in compliance with the historical memory law.
Also retaining:
- A 120 mm cannon in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
- The second bow turret of 203 mm at Marin Military Naval School.
- The furniture of the Admiral House in the MNA of Marin.
- The bell of the ship, the telemeter and the reed of the rudder at the Naval Museum of Ferrol.
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