The Battle of Cape Palos, also known as the Second Battle of Cape Palos, was the biggest

naval battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...

of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, fought on the night of March 5–6, 1938, east of

Cape Palos Cape Palos ( es, Cabo de Palos) is a cape in the Spanish municipality of Cartagena, in the region of Murcia. It is part of a small range of volcanic mounts that form a small peninsula. The Mediterranean islands of Grosa and the group known as t ...

near

Cartagena, Spain Cartagena () is a Spanish city and a major naval station on the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Iberia. As of January 2018, it has a population of 218,943 inhabitants, being the region's second-largest municipality and the country's sixth-lar ...

Leadup to the battle

On March 5, 1938 the two Nationalist

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...

s, and , led by Vice Admiral Manuel Vierna Belando sortied from the naval base at

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

, in company with the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

, and three

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s. The

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

acted as a distant escort of a

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

bearing war equipment from Italy as well as troops from the Army of Africa being ferried across the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

. On the same day, forces of the

Spanish Republican Navy The Spanish Republican Navy was the Navy, naval arm of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. History In the same manner as the othe ...

, led by Admiral

Luis González de Ubieta Luis González de Ubieta y González del Campillo (1899 – 1950) was an admiral of the Spanish Republican Navy during the Spanish Civil War. He died in exile as the captain of the Panama, Panamanian merchant vessel ''Chiriqui'', refusing to b ...

and consisting of two light cruisers (the new ''Libertad'' and the older ''Méndez Núñez'') and five destroyers, sailed from Cartagena. At night, the Nationalist destroyers returned to base, while the cruisers remained on course.

The battle

The squadrons, going in opposite directions, met by chance in the dead of night of 5–6 March 1938. A Republican destroyer fired

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es but missed, and both fleets passed each other by. Nationalist

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

de Vierna preferred to wait until dawn, which would enable him to use his ships' superior artillery, but Republican Vice Admiral de Ubieta decided to turn and pursue the enemy. The forces met again unexpectedly at about 02:15. the Nationalist cruisers opened fire on ''Libertad'' from a range of about and the Republican cruisers returned fire. However, one of the Nationalist ships made the mistake of firing a star shell illuminating their position to the enemy Republican ships. As the cruisers duelled, three Republican destroyers, probably unseen by the Nationalists, detached from escorting ''Libertad''. At about , , , and each fired four

es. Two or three torpedoes hit ''Baleares'' between 'A' and 'B' turrets and detonated her forward

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

. The sinking is generally credited to ''Lepanto'', but also to the destroyer ''Almirante Antequera'' by some authors. Prioritizing the protection of the troops of the North African Army crossing the

Gibraltar Strait The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medit ...

over his own safety, Admiral de Vierna ordered his own ship, the ''Baleares'' to engage the Republican fleet while he ordered the rest of the ships away. The two surviving Nationalist cruisers quickly cleared the area, leaving ''Baleares'' to her fate. The stern remained afloat and it was from this part of the ship that survivors were rescued, thanks to the efforts of the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

destroyers and , under Captain McGrigor, who made towards the scene of the action from away. Only 441 out of her crew of 1,206 were saved with Admiral Vierna among those who went down with the ship. The Nationalist cruisers returned at dawn and survivors rescued by ''Boreas'' were transferred to them by boats. An air attack by Republican bombers interrupted the proceedings and caused one British fatality.

Aftermath

The sinking of the rebel heavy cruiser ''Baleares'' was hailed as a great victory by the Republican government and Luis González de Ubieta, the commander of the Republican fleet, was awarded the

Laureate Plate of Madrid The Laureate Badge of Madrid ( es, Placa Laureada de Madrid) was the highest military award for gallantry of the Second Spanish Republic. It was awarded in recognition of action, either individual or collective, to protect the nation and its citi ...

''(Placa Laureada de Madrid)'', the highest military award for gallantry of the Second Spanish Republic. The ''

Distintivo de Madrid The Madrid Distinction ( es, Distintivo de Madrid) was one of the highest military awards of the Second Spanish Republic. It was a decoration related to the Laureate Plate of Madrid. which was established by the Second Spanish Republic in order to ...

'', which had been established by the Spanish Republic to reward courage, was given to cruisers ''Libertad'' and ''Méndez Núñez'', and destroyers ''Lepanto'', ''Almirante Antequera'' and ''Sánchez Barcáiztegui'', as well as to their crew members. These ships would thenceforward fly a special pennant and the men would wear a special badge on their uniforms with the old

Coat of arms of Madrid The main components of the Coat of arms of Madrid (the bear and the tree) have their origin in the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries ...

.Enrique García Domingo, ''Recompensas republicanas por el hundimiento del Baleares,'' Revista de Historia Naval 1997, Año XV no. 59, pg. 70
The Battle of Cape Palos was one of the last Republican victories of the war. Although the action was the largest naval battle of the Spanish Civil War and an important Republican victory, it had little noticeable long-term effect on the war. The Republican Navy failed to press their advantage, and the loss of ''Baleares'' was partially offset when the modernised cruiser ''Navarra'' joined the Nationalist fleet some months later.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

Michael Alpert Michael Alpert (born 1954, Los Angeles, California) is a klezmer musician and Yiddish singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, scholar and educator who has been called a key figure in the klezmer revitalization, beginning in the 1970s. He has ...

, ''La Guerra Civil española en el mar'', Editorial Critica,

External links

''El hundimiento del crucero Baleares''
(Spanish) {{Coord, 37, 52, 18, N, 0, 52, 00, E, type:event_source:dewiki, display=title

Palos 1938 in Spain

March 1938 events