Coast Defense Battleships
In 1896, the old armoured frigates Numancia - the first ironclad warship to circumnavigate the world - and Vitoria, both constructed in the 1860s, were taken in hand at Toulon for reconstruction into Acorazado guardacostas - coast defense battleships. Their sailing masts were removed and new boilers were installed, and the ships were comprehensively rearmed. Unable to be recommissioned in time for service in the Spanish-American War, the two ships served as training vessels after their conversion, and both ships had been removed from the navy list and sold for scrap by 1912, with Numancia surviving to around 1920 before finally being broken up.
| Ship | Main guns | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||
| Numancia | 4 × 16 cm (6.3 in) 6 x 14 cm (5.5 in) |
7,500 t (7,400 long tons) | 1 screw, 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) | September 1862 | December 1864 | Reconstructed 1897-98; sold for scrap 1912. |
| Vitoria | 6 × 16 cm (6.3 in) 6 x 14 cm (5.5 in) |
7,250 t (7,140 long tons) | 1 screw, Penn trunk engine, 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) | 15 January 1863 | 15 November 1867 | Reconstructed 1897-98; sold for scrap 1911. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Battleships And Monitors Of Spain
Famous quotes containing the words coast, defense and/or battleships:
“It cannot but affect our philosophy favorably to be reminded of these shoals of migratory fishes, of salmon, shad, alewives, marsh-bankers, and others, which penetrate up the innumerable rivers of our coast in the spring, even to the interior lakes, their scales gleaming in the sun; and again, of the fry which in still greater numbers wend their way downward to the sea.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
For the dexterity of his defense is an instance of the love of God
to him exceedingly.”
—Christopher Smart (1722–1771)
“By and by when each nation has 20,000 battleships and 5,000,000 soldiers we shall all be safe and the wisdom of statesmanship will stand confirmed.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)