Spanish Torpedo Boats, First Class
By Nick Mitiuckov and Franscico
Jose Diaz Diaz
General:
The following is some basic information on the Spanish Torpedo boats,
1st Class. Torpedo boats of this class displaced in excess of 100 tons,
and were intended for use at sea rather than merely for coastal port defense
as were the second class torpedo boats.
The authors ares searching for more information on these vessels, and would
like verification of the facts as listed below. If you can in either of
these items, please contact the website
administrator, and he will put us in contact! We need your help!
These vessels were equipped with Whitehead
torpedoes. The first vessels of this type
ARIETE, RAYO
Click here to see a plan and profile
of the ARIETE!
|
Displacement
|
Dimensions
|
Horsepower
|
Speed
|
Range
|
Bunker capacity
|
Class
|
|
128 tons
|
45m long x 4.42m wide x 1.4 m draft
|
800
|
26 knots
|
1500 miles
|
35 tons
|
Rayo
|
ARIETE ("RAM") and RAYO ("RAY") were both constructed by Thornycroft
(England), in 1886 and 1887 respectively at a cost of 37,000 pounds each..
They carried two 14 inch Whitehead torpedo tubes,
and four 42 mm Nordenfelt machine guns. These vessel had two locomotive
boilers with asymmetric chimneys located which were not located on the
main axis of the ship, but towards the sides. The engines could create
1,300 horsepower, and had a speed of at least 25 knots (ARIETE reached
27 knots, a record at the time).The ships had a complement of 25 men. There
speed was a record for in its day. The ARIETE and RAYO were to have joined
Don Fernando Villaamil's torpedo group
in Admiral Cervera's squadron, but this did not
occur because it was thought that the conditions of a sea passage for the
vessels made the trek unadvisable. Both saw service until 1905.
AZOR, HALCON
Click here to see a plan and profile
of the AZOR!
|
Displacement
|
Dimensions
|
Horsepower
|
Speed
|
Range
|
Bunker capacity
|
Class
|
|
120 tons
|
45m long
|
1600
|
24 knots
|
1400 miles
|
25 tons
|
Azor
|
AZOR and HALCON ("HAWK") were constructed by Yarrow (England) - Inglaterra
in 1887 at a cost of 17,000 pounds each. They carried three Whitehead torpedo
tubes (two in the bow, and one in the stern) and two machine guns. The
vessels were equipped with locomotive boilers which had their funnels adjacent
to each other. The ship was divided into 10 watertight compartments. These
were among the first Spanish torpedo boats with good facilities for the
crew. These vessels carried a crew complement of 23 men. The AZOR was to
have joined Don Fernando Villaamil's torpedo
group in Admiral Cervera's squadron, but this
did not occur because it was thought that the conditions of a sea passage
for the vessel made the trek unadvisable. AZOR collided with the ORION
in the Bay of Cadiz on April 8, 1911 during military exercises.
Bibliography:
Mitiuckov, Nick, Naval Historian, Izhevsk, Russia (personal correspondence)
Aceñero, Lluis Domingo - personal correspondence
de Juan and Peñalosa, Javier and Santiago Fernandez Gimenez,
History of Navigation. Editions "Urbion", (Spain, 1980) 245-246.
Diaz Diaz, Francisco Jose
FOCK's Schwartze Gesellan,
CONWAY's All the World's Fighting Ships, Vol 1 and 2.
AGUILERA's Buques de la Armada Espanola (Madrid: Editorial Silex,
1999), 344-345, 479-480.
Voennie floty i morskaya spravochnaya knizhka. Under edition of
His Emperor Highness, Great Kniaz Alexander Mikhailovich.
(Information on the AZOR Class and the RAYO Class provided by Luis
Diaz)
Please note that we are looking for more
information on these vessels. If you have additional data, please contact
us!
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