The Spanish ironclad ''Méndez Núñez'' was a wooden-hulled armored corvette converted from the 38-gun, steam-powered frigate ''Resolución'' during the 1860s after the ship was badly damaged during the

Chincha Islands War The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War ( es, Guerra hispano-sudamericana), was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The ...

of 1864–1866. She was captured by rebels during the

Cantonal Revolution The Cantonal rebellion was a cantonalist insurrection that took place during the First Spanish Republic between July 1873 and January 1874. Its protagonists were the "intransigent" federal Republicans, who wanted to establish immediately the F ...

in 1873 and participated in the

Battle off Cartagena A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

before she was returned to government control after Cartagena surrendered in early 1874. The ship was stricken from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

in 1886 and

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sold for re-use, ...

ten years later.

Description as an ironclad

''Méndez Núñez'' was long at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

, had 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 mean

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . The ship displaced . She had a single compound-expansion steam engine that drove her propeller using steam provided by four

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s. The engine was designed to produce a total of which gave the ship a speed of . For long-distance travel, ''Méndez Núñez'' was fitted with three masts and

ship rig A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three s ...

ged. She carried of coal. The ship was armed with four

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

and two rifled muzzle-loading guns. The ship was a central-battery ironclad with the armament concentrated amidships. Her

wrought-iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" t ...

armor covered most of the ship's hull and was thick.Gardiner, p. 381

Construction and career

''Resolución'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 22 September 1859 by the

Reales Astilleros de Esteiro The Real Astillero de Esteiro (''in English: Esteiro Royal Dockyards'') was a royal shipyard in Ferrol in Spain. Orders for its construction were issued by Ferdinand VI of Spain on 9 April 1749, following the decision by the naval minister Zenón ...

in Ferrol and launched on 19 September 1861. Completed on 28 April 1862, the ship played a major role in the Chincha Islands War. ''Resolución'' participated in various military operations such as the blockade of the Chilean coast ( Action of 17 November 1865), the

Bombardment of Valparaíso The Bombardment of Valparaíso on 31 March 1866 took place during the Chincha Islands War, when a Spanish fleet shelled, burned and destroyed the undefended port of Valparaíso. Background After the humiliating defeat at the Battle of Papudo an ...

and the

Battle of Callao The Battle of Callao (, as it is known in South America) occurred on May 2, 1866, between a Spanish Empire, Spanish fleet under the command of Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez and the fortified battery emplacements of the Peruvian port city of Cal ...

. She was badly damaged during the war and was rebuilt into an armored corvette in 1867–1870. Completed in February 1870, the ship was renamed ''Méndez Núñez'', after Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez, on 21 August 1870.Silverstone, pp. 393–394 The ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron after completion.Greene & Massignani, p. 278 In mid-1873, the

First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic ( es, República Española), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic, was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after th ...

was beset with the

while fighting the

Third Carlist War The Third Carlist War ( es, Tercera Guerra Carlista) (1872–1876) was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relatively trivial ...

. The revolutionaries seized Cartagena on 12 July while the bulk of the Mediterranean Squadron was in port. This included the armored frigates , , and , in addition to ''Méndez Núñez''. The German and British ironclads and seized ''Vitoria'' and a wooden steam frigate as pirates after they threatened to bombard Almeria unless a ransom was paid and later turned them over the national government on 26 September. On 8 August, ''Méndez Núñez'' ran aground whilst attempting to recapture ''Numancia'' and ''Vitoria''. ''Numancia'' and ''Méndez Núñez'' later attacked coastal fortifications defending

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

and were lightly damaged. On 11 October, all three Cantonist ironclads, ''Numancia'', ''Tetuan'', and ''Méndez Núñez'' were at sea when they were attacked near Cartagena by a small government fleet led by ''Vitoria''. Reluctant to actually sink the rebel ships, the government ships kept their distance and thwarted rebel attempt to close with them. The latter suffered 13 dead and 49 wounded in the skirmish. On 13 October, ''Méndez Nuñez'' was reported to have run aground whilst leaving Cartagena in company with ''Numancia'' and ''Tetuan''. She was refloated. The government blockaded Cartagena on 23 October and the city surrendered on 12–13 January 1874.Greene & Massignani, pp. 278–281 ''Méndez Núñez'' was stricken in 1886 and scrapped in 1896.

Footnotes

References

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External links

La Marina Blindada en el Siglo XIX
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez Nunez 1861 ships Ships built in Spain Ironclad warships of the Spanish Navy Chincha Islands War Maritime incidents in August 1873 Maritime incidents in October 1873