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Spanish cruiser Velasco facts for kids

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Velasco
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History
Armada Española EnsignSpain
Name Velasco
Namesake Velasco
Builder Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd.
Launched 1881
Fate Sunk 1 May 1898
General characteristics
Class and type Velasco-class unprotected cruiser
Displacement 1,152 tons
Length 210 ft 0 in (64.01 m)
Beam 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)
Draft 13 ft 8 in (4.17 m) maximum
Installed power 1,500 ihp (1,100 kW)
Propulsion 1-shaft, horizontal compound, 4-cylinder boilers
Sail plan Barque-rigged
Speed 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement 173 officers and enlisted
Armament
  • 4 × 6 in (152 mm) guns
  • 2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns
  • 2 × machine guns
  • 2 × 14 in (356 mm) torpedo tubes
Notes 200 to 220 tons of coal (normal)

Velasco was a Velasco-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy which fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War.

Technical characteristics

Velasco was built by the Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. at Leamouth, London in the United Kingdom, as the lead ship of a new class of eight Spanish unprotected cruisers. Her keel was laid in 1881. She had one rather tall funnel. She had an iron hull and was rigged as a barque. She and the second ship of the class, Gravina, also built in the United Kingdom, were differently armed from and slightly faster than the final six ships of the class, all of which were built in Spain.

Operational history

Wreck of Velasco (2)
The wreck of Velasco.

In 1891 the cruiser was sent on a patrol to Northern Luzon and the surrounding islands to watch out for potentially suspicious activities of japanese merchant shipping.

When the Spanish–American War began in April 1898, Velasco was anchored in Manila Bay off the Cavite Peninsula as part of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasaron's Pacific Squadron. In the Battle of Manila Bay, she was still anchored there when the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron attacked Montojo's squadron on 1 May 1898. Her boilers were ashore being repaired. All her guns were apparently removed to the Caballo Island Battery. She did not participate in the battle although ended up sunk.

View aboard Wreck of Velasco
The view looking forward from the poop deck aboard the wreck of Velasco.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Velasco (1881) para niños

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