International Journal of Naval History

Announcing a new volume dedicated to

Late Nineteenth Century Spanish Warships

Buques de la Armada Española a través de la fotografía (1849-1900)

By Coello Lillo, Juan Luis and Rodríguez González, Agustín Ramón.

Madrid, Ministerio de Defensa/Agualarga, 2001. 

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This book represents the first serious work to illustrate Spanish warships from the second half of the nineteenth century. The project has been sponsored by the Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval and the authors are well known naval historians, with wide experience and important publications on the subject. In the 1840s, after half a century of continuous warfare, Spain, relegated to a second-rate power, initiated its economic recovery and the reconstruction of its greatly depleted naval forces. The introduction of steam power, the early adoption of armoured ships and the defence of Cuba against American expansionism were the main characteristics of this revival. Thus by the 1860s, despite chronic political and economic instability, successive governments had succeeded in creating a steam navy that contained a sizeable squadron of frigates and sea-going ironclads. The next phase of naval construction began in the 1880s, when the general confusion in warship design and the influence of the Jeune Ecole ideas led to the building of torpedo boats and cruisers. Nevertheless, torpedo boat building was soon discontinued, and the cruiser programme soon ran into difficulties and fell far behind schedule. Hence industrial backwardness, administrative inefficiency and the wrong choice of ship types prevented the development of an efficient naval force by the time of the Spanish American War.

The main body of the book is divided into two parts, each of which is arranged into chapters corresponding to ship types. In the first section the authors cover the introduction of steam power and armour, laying emphasis on the importance of frigates and ironclads. The main operation of this period, the war against Chilli and Peru, is covered in detail. The second part is devoted the navy that fought in the Spanish American War. Two ships in this section are of special interest: a very fast and seaworthy torpedo boat catcher, aptly named Destructor, built in the United Kingdom to a Spanish admiralty specification; and the electric-driven submarine Peral, a worthy contemporary of the French Gymnote, designed by a naval officer and built in Cádiz dockyard. Unfortunately, owing to the mixing up of strategy and politics, these successful experiences were not followed up, and by 1898 no proper coastal defence force existed to protect the overseas possessions.

Buques de la Armada Española a través de la fotografía is a unique mine of data on the workings of the Spanish Navy. Colonial gunboats and other minor types, as well as their operations, also get proper coverage, thus giving a good idea of the workings of a secondary naval power with worldwide commitments. Although the absence of footnotes and the uncritical bibliography may suggest otherwise, the text is chiefly based on archival research and most of the facts appear in print for the first time. However, introductory chapters to both parts would have been welcome as a framework to the detailed career histories.

The majority of the 221 photographs are hitherto unpublished and benefit from the large format of the book. They portray not only the ships, but also naval officers, dockyards and life on board, thus conveying the flavour of the period. However, the lack of comment and explanation diminishes the value of many interesting pictures. These come primarily from the main Spanish public archives and are of good quality, though private and foreign archives have not been researched exhaustively.

In spite of this, the authors must be congratulated for offering a fine collection of photographs with detailed career histories of the ships portrayed, based on sound research. Appealing both to the warship enthusiast and the historian alike, this work represents a major contribution to the knowledge of the Spanish Navy of the nineteenth century.