Spanish Cruiser Almirante Oquendo - Technical Characteristics

Technical Characteristics

Almirante Oquendo was built at Bilbao, Spain. She was laid down in January 1889, launched in 1891, and completed in 1893. She had two funnels and was fast and well armed. Her main armament was mounted on the center line in single barbettes fore and aft. Her armor was poor: her 280 mm guns had only lightly armored hoods, her 140 mm guns were mounted in the open on the upper deck, her armor belt was thin and protected only two-thirds of her length, and she had a high, unprotected freeboard that took much damage during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. Like other nineteenth-century warships, she was heavily furnished and decorated with wood, which the Spanish failed to remove prior to combat and which would feed fires during the battle.