USS ''Isla de Cuba'' was a
protected cruiser of the
United States Navy captured from the
Spanish Navy during the
Spanish–American War. Originally named ''Isla de Cuba'' for the Spanish colony of
Cuba, the ship was ordered from the British shipbuilding company
Sir W.G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company in January 1886 and
laid down on 25 February 1886. The ship was
launched on 11 December 1886 and completed in 1887. The vessel fought in the
Rif War before being assigned to Spain's fleet in the
Philippines. When the Spanish fleet in the Philippines was attacked by the
United States Navy during the
Battle of Manila Bay, ''Isla de Cuba'' was
scuttled to prevent capture. However, the Americans raised the ship and
commissioned her into the United States Navy in 1900 and assigned to the Asiatic Station, keeping the same name. In US service, the ship, rerated as a
gunboat, was used to suppress the
Philippine Revolution. The vessel was taken out of American service in 1904, becoming a
school ship. In 1912, the US sold the ship to Venezuela which renamed her ''Mariscal Sucre''. The ship was
scrapped
Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...
in 1940.
Characteristics
In January 1886, Spain placed orders for two small
protected cruisers, and ''Isla de Cuba'' with the British shipbuilding company
Armstrongs to be built at their
Elswick, Tyne and Wear shipyard. The ship had a
standard displacement of , but reached during
sea trials.
[Brook 1999, p. 65.] The ship measured
long between perpendiculars
Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...
[Lyon, p. 384] and
overall with a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draught of .
The ship was powered by steam from two cylindrical boilers fed to two sets of horizontal
triple expansion engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tr ...
s constructed by R & W Hawthorn Leslie. At natural draught, the engines were design to create with a maximum speed of and at forced draught with a maximum speed of . However, on trials, ''Isla de Cuba'' created at natural draught and reached over six hours and at forced draught reaching at the measured mile.
The ships had capacity for of coal for fuel.
The ship was built with a main armament of six
guns, with a secondary battery of four
6-pounder (57 mm guns), and three
torpedo tubes. The ship's protective armour deck had a thickness of between , while the ship's
conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
had of armour.
''Isla de Cuba'' had a steel hull and one
funnel.
Having a wide beam for her length, she had poor seakeeping qualities and tended to bury her
bow in waves.
The vessel had a complement of 164.
Service history
Spanish Navy
''Isla de Cuba'' was
laid down on 25 February 1886 by
Sir W.G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company at their yard in
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. The ship was
launched on 11 December 1886, and completed on 22 September 1887.
Upon completion, ''Isla de Cuba'' joined the Metropolitan Fleet in Spain. She participated in the
Rif War of 1893–1894, bombarding the reef between
Melilla
Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...
and
Chafarinos.
When an insurrection broke out in the
Philippines, ''Isla de Cuba'' was sent there in 1897 to join the squadron of Rear Admiral
Patricio Montojo de Pasaron.
She was still part of Montojo's squadron when the
Spanish–American War began in April 1898. She was anchored with the squadron in
Cañacao Bay
Cañacao Bay is a small bay located within the larger Manila Bay in Luzon island in the Philippines.
It is located along the northeastern end of the Cavite Peninsula and Cavite City, in the Province of Cavite.''Webster's New Geographical Dictiona ...
under the lee of the
Cavite Peninsula
The Cavite Peninsula is a peninsula extending northeast into Manila Bay from the coastal town of Noveleta in Cavite province in the Philippines. The northern tip of the peninsula is geographically the northernmost part of the Province of Cavite. ...
east of
Sangley Point,
Luzon, southwest of
Manila, when, early on the morning of 1 May 1898, the
United States Navy's Asiatic Squadron under Commodore
George Dewey, found Montojo's anchorage and attacked. The resulting
Battle of Manila Bay was the first major engagement of the Spanish–American War.
[Nofi, pp. 17–23]
The American squadron made a series of firing passes, wreaking great havoc on the Spanish ships.
At first, Dewey's ships concentrated their fire on Montojo's
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
, unprotected cruiser , and on unprotected cruiser , and ''Isla de Cuba'' suffered little damage. When ''Reina Cristina'' was disabled, ''Isla de Cuba'' and her
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
, ''Isla de Luzón'', came alongside the sinking ''Reina Cristina'' to assist her under heavy American gunfire. Admiral Montojo shifted his flag to ''Isla de Cuba''. When Montojo's squadron had been battered into submission, ''Isla de Cuba'' was
scuttled in shallow water to avoid capture. Her upper works remained above the water, and a team from
gunboat went aboard and set ''Isla de Cuba'' on fire.
After the United States occupied the Philippines, the
United States Navy seized, salvaged, and repaired ''Isla de Cuba''.
The U.S. Navy took possession of her, refloated her, and repaired her damage. The Spanish guns were removed and replaced with
guns.
[Campbell, p. 166]
United States Navy
''Isla de Cuba'' was commissioned into the United States Navy on 11 April 1900 at
Hong Kong, China. The ship was assigned to the Asiatic Station after undergoing repairs and rerated as a
gunboat. ''Isla de Cuba'' was used as a supply ship and patrol boat during the Philippine Revolution in the Philippines following the Spanish–American War. In March–April 1900 the ship was part of the Southern Squadron. As part of blockading the island of
Samar, ''Isla de Cuba'' played a key part in disrupting supplies to the Philippine insurgents' and in abetting the capture of
Vicente Lukbán, the insurgent leader in Samar. On 17 November 1900, the ship landed a
battalion at
Ormoc,
Leyte, to hold the town after the garrison had been sent away to deal with Philippine insurgents. The battalion remained at Ormoc until 8 December. In 1901, ''Isla de Cuba'' was used as a
survey ship
A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...
to survey Ormoc anchorage and
Parasan
Parasan () is a village and later it became Parasan VDC which is now in Punarbas Municipality in Kanchanpur District in Sudurpashchim Province of south-western Nepal. The former village development committee was merged to form a new municipali ...
Harbor.
On 4 March 1904, ''Isla de Cuba'' left
Cebu, which marked the end of the ship's deployment to the Asiatic Station. The ship returned to the United States where ''Isla de Cuba'' was decommissioned on 9 June at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...
. The ship was repaired at Portsmouth which were completed on 21 March 1907. ''Isla de Cuba'' was then loaned to the
Maryland Naval Militia for use as a
school ship.
Venezuela Navy
''Isla de Cuba'' was was sold at
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
, to the Republic of Venezuela on 2 April 1912. The vessel was renamed ''Mariscal Sucre'', after Marshall
Antonio José de Sucre. ''Mariscal Sucre'' served in the
Venezuelan Navy
)
, mascot =
, battles = Venezuelan War of Independence and the Battle of Lake Maracaibo
, anniversaries = July 24, Birthday of Simon Bolivar, Navy Day and Battle of Lake Maracai ...
until she was scrapped in 1940.
See also
*
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
* Gray, Randal, Ed. ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. .
*
*
*
Further reading
* Alden, John D. ''The American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet, 1907–1909.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1972. .
External links
*
Navsource.org: USS ''Isla de Cuba''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isla de Cuba
Cruisers of the Spanish Navy
Cruisers of the United Kingdom
Ships built on the River Tyne
1886 ships
Gunboats of the United States Navy
Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela
Naval ships of Venezuela
Isla de Luzon-class cruisers
Spanish–American War cruisers of Spain
Vessels captured by the United States Navy
Maritime incidents in 1898
Shipwrecks of the Philippines
Shipwrecks in the South China Sea
Shipwrecks of the Spanish–American War
Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth