Tin Can Sailors is the name of The National Association of Destroyer Veterans in the United States . It currently numbers approximately 20,000 members as of the end of 2010.
121-438: "Tin can sailor" is a term used to refer to sailors on destroyers . It refers to their lighter construction, with no armor plating, compared to battleships and cruisers . The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors is a book by James D. Hornfischer about the Battle off Samar on October 25, 1944, in which destroyers saw off a much larger force of Japanese ships. Tales from a Tin Can: The USS Dale from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
242-582: A crew of 60. In terms of gunnery, speed, and dimensions, the specialised design to chase torpedo boats and her high-seas capabilities, Destructor was an important precursor to the TBD. The first classes of ships to bear the formal designation TBD were the Daring class of two ships and Havock class of two ships of the Royal Navy. Early torpedo gunboat designs lacked the range and speed to keep up with
363-644: A destroyer was the German U-19 , rammed by HMS Badger on 29 October 1914. While U-19 was only damaged, the next month, HMS Garry successfully sank U-18 . The first depth-charge sinking was on 4 December 1916, when UC-19 was sunk by HMS Llewellyn . The submarine threat meant that many destroyers spent their time on antisubmarine patrol. Once Germany adopted unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917, destroyers were called on to escort merchant convoys . US Navy destroyers were among
484-524: A difference of nearly 340%. Moreover, the advent of guided missiles allowed destroyers to take on the surface-combatant roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided missile destroyers more capable of independent operation. At the start of the 21st century, destroyers are the global standard for surface-combatant ships, with only two nations (the United States and Russia ) officially operating
605-598: A doubt magnificent fighting vessels... but unable to stand bad weather". During the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy TBD Akatsuki described "being in command of a destroyer for a long period, especially in wartime... is not very good for the health". Stating that he had originally been strong and healthy, he continued, "life on a destroyer in winter, with bad food, no comforts, would sap
726-535: A further three similar classes were produced around 1930. The Le Fantasque class of 1935 carried five 138 millimetres (5.4 in) guns and nine torpedo tubes, but could achieve speeds of 45 knots (83 km/h), which remains the record speed for a steamship and for any destroyer. The Italians' own destroyers were almost as swift; most Italian designs of the 1930s were rated at over 38 knots (70 km/h), while carrying torpedoes and either four or six 120 mm guns. Germany started to build destroyers again during
847-401: A great increase in overseas trade and a massive increase in the importation of luxuries and silver. Nevertheless, inadequate port defences allowed an Anglo-Dutch force to raid Cádiz in 1596, and though unsuccessful in its objective of capturing the silver from the just returned convoy, was able to inflict great damage upon the city. Port defences at Cádiz were upgraded and all attempts to repeat
968-446: A maximum speed of 22.6 knots (41.9 km/h), which made her one of the faster ships in the world in 1888. She was armed with one 90 mm (3.5 in) Spanish-designed Hontoria breech-loading gun, four 57 mm (2.2 in) ( 6-pounder ) Nordenfelt guns, two 37 mm (1.5 in) (3-pdr) Hotchkiss cannons and two 15-inch (38 cm) Schwartzkopff torpedo tubes. The ship carried three torpedoes per tube. She carried
1089-748: A member of NATO in 1982 and the Armada Española has taken part in many coalition peacekeeping operations, from SFOR to Haiti and other locations around the world. The Armada is a modern navy with an aircraft carrier group, a modern strategic amphibious ship (which replaced a dedicated aircraft carrier in 2011), modern frigates (F-100 class) with the Aegis Combat System , F-80-class frigates, minesweepers , new S-80-class submarines , amphibious ships and various other ships, including oceanographic research ships . The Armada's special operations and unconventional warfare capability
1210-437: A modern-day reunion. This United States Navy article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet , convoy , or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were originally conceived in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for
1331-399: A monarchy and rose as a republic" became instantly famous, going quickly around Madrid and around Spain, making people accept the fact and setting a more relaxed mood. The Spanish Republican Navy introduced a few changes in the flags and ensigns , as well as in the navy officer rank insignia. The executive curl (La coca) was replaced by a golden five-pointed star and the royal crown of
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#17327826296341452-551: A number of auxiliary ships . The total displacement of the Spanish Navy is approximately 220,000 tonnes. The Spanish Naval Air Arm constitutes the naval aviation branch of the Spanish Navy. The officer ranks of the Spanish Navy are as follows below, (for a comparison with other NATO ranks, see Ranks and Insignia of NATO ). Midshipmen are further divided into 1st and 2nd Classes and Officer Cadets 3rd and 4th Classes respectively. The article Spanish Marine Infantry includes
1573-578: A permanent force in the Americas for the defence of the colonies and the suppression of piracy and smuggling. In metropolitan Spain, significant forest reconnaissance operations were regularly undertaken by Spanish naval officers to seek out sources of timber suitable for shipbuilding. During the War of the Polish Succession (1733–38), a renewed attempt to regain the lost Italian territories for
1694-420: A reform of fleet operations. The navy at this time was not a single operation but consisted of various fleets, made up mainly of armed merchantmen with escorts of royal ships. The Armada fiasco marked a turning point in naval warfare, where gunnery was now more important than ramming and boarding and so Spanish ships were equipped with purpose built naval guns. During the 1590s, the expansion of these fleets allowed
1815-633: A single hit. In most cases torpedo and/or dual-purpose gun armament was reduced to accommodate new anti-air and anti-submarine weapons. By this time the destroyers had become large, multi-purpose vessels, expensive targets in their own right. As a result, casualties on destroyers were among the highest. In the US Navy, particularly in World War II, destroyers became known as tin cans due to their light armor compared to battleships and cruisers. The need for large numbers of antisubmarine ships led to
1936-408: A skeleton, and my bones are full of rheumatism ." In 1898, the US Navy officially classified USS Porter , a 175-foot (53 m) long all steel vessel displacing 165 tons, as a torpedo boat, but her commander, LT. John C. Fremont, described her as "...a compact mass of machinery not meant to keep the sea nor to live in... as five-sevenths of the ship are taken up by machinery and fuel, whilst
2057-509: A slow decline. During the middle to late decades of the century, the Dutch, English and French were able to take advantage of Spain's shrinking, run-down and increasingly underequipped fleets. Military priorities in continental Europe meant that naval affairs were increasingly neglected. The Dutch took control of the smaller islands of the Caribbean , while England conquered Jamaica and France
2178-404: A turtleback (i.e. rounded) forecastle that was characteristic of early British TBDs. HMS Daring and HMS Decoy were both built by Thornycroft , displaced 260 tons (287.8 tons full load), and were 185 feet in length. They were armed with one 12-pounder gun and three 6-pounder guns, with one fixed 18-in torpedo tube in the bow plus two more torpedo tubes on a revolving mount abaft
2299-571: Is a book by Michael Keith Olson which follows the destroyer USS Dale throughout World War II. The exploits of her sailors are told in their own words. Tin Can Sailors Will Not Be Forgotten is a 53-minute-long documentary film directed by Greg Berg, which follows the destroyer USS Morris through her 15 battle stars earned in The Pacific War. The sailors themselves tell the story as recollections from
2420-569: Is available for immediate embarkation and based out of San Fernando. Its principal weapons include light tanks , armored personnel vehicles , self-propelled artillery, and TOW and Dragon anti-tank missiles . As of 2018, there are approximately 138 vessels in service within the Navy, including minor auxiliary vessels. A breakdown includes an amphibious assault ship (also used as an aircraft carrier), amphibious transport docks , frigates, submarines, mine countermeasure vessels , patrol vessels and
2541-815: Is embodied in the Naval Special Warfare Command ( Mando de Guerra Naval Especial ), which is under the direct control of the Admiral of the Fleet. The unit in charge of special operations is the Naval Special Warfare Force ( Fuerza de Guerra Naval Especial ), which is a merge of the previous Special Operations Unit ( Unidad de Operaciones Especiales (UOE) ) and the Special Combat Diver Unit ( Unidad Especial de Buceadores de Combate (UEBC) ). This unit
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#17327826296342662-547: Is retained in its name in other languages, including French ( contre-torpilleur ), Italian ( cacciatorpediniere ), Portuguese ( contratorpedeiro ), Czech ( torpédoborec ), Greek ( antitorpiliko , αντιτορπιλικό ), Dutch ( torpedobootjager ) and, up until the Second World War, Polish ( kontrtorpedowiec , now obsolete). Once destroyers became more than just catchers guarding an anchorage, they were recognized to be also ideal to take over
2783-627: Is trained in maritime counter-terrorism, specialized combat diving and swimming, coastal infiltration, ship boarding, direct action, special reconnaissance, hydrographic reconnaissance and underwater demolitions. Armada officers receive their education at the Spanish Naval Academy (ENM). They are recruited through two different methods: Subordinate to the Spanish Chief of Naval Staff, stationed in Madrid, are four area commands:
2904-470: The Durandal -class torpilleur d'escadre . The United States commissioned its first TBD, USS Bainbridge , Destroyer No. 1, in 1902, and by 1906, 16 destroyers were in service with the US Navy. Torpedo boat destroyer designs continued to evolve around the turn of the 20th century in several key ways. The first was the introduction of the steam turbine . The spectacular unauthorized demonstration of
3025-753: The Alhucemas landing in 1925, the first air-naval landing of the world. At that time, the navy developed a naval aviation branch, the Aeronáutica naval . In 1931, following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic , the Navy of the Spanish Kingdom became the Spanish Republican Navy . Admiral Aznar 's casual comment: "Do you think it was a little thing what happened yesterday, that Spain went to bed as
3146-568: The Arleigh Burke class are actually larger and more heavily armed than most previous ships classified as guided-missile cruisers. The Chinese Type 055 destroyer has been described as a cruiser in some US Navy reports due to its size and armament. Many NATO navies, such as the French , Spanish , Dutch , Danish , and German , use the term " frigate " for their destroyers, which leads to some confusion. The emergence and development of
3267-614: The Battle of Cape Corvo and Cape Celidonia . These battles stabilised the situation on the eastern Mediterranean front. However, in 1639, a Dutch fleet under Maarten Tromp decisively defeated a large Spanish fleet in the Battle of the Downs and put an end to Spanish operations in northern waters. By the middle of the 17th century, Spain had been drained by the vast strains of the Thirty Years' and related wars and began to slip into
3388-531: The Battle of Jutland , which involved pitched small-boat actions between the main fleets, and several foolhardy attacks by unsupported destroyers on capital ships. Jutland also concluded with a messy night action between the German High Seas Fleet and part of the British destroyer screen. The threat evolved by World War I with the development of the submarine , or U-boat . The submarine had
3509-701: The Duchy of Athens . Castile meanwhile used its naval capacities to conduct its Reconquista operations against the Moors , capturing Cádiz in 1232 and also to help the French Crown against England in the Hundred Years' War . In 1375, a Castilian fleet destroyed a large English fleet at Bourgneuf, and Castilian ships raided the English coast. As Castile developed long-lasting trade relationships with towns in
3630-811: The First War of the Pacific from 1864 to 1871. During the conflict, the Spanish massed a fleet of 15 vessels to combat the combined navies of Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. The 1890s saw the Spanish Navy gain several armored cruisers —important for maintaining connection with the Spanish Empire's remaining colonies—including the Emperador Carlos V . As of 1896, according to the plans of Admiral José María Beránger , there were three naval divisions based at Cádiz , Ferrol , and Cartagena . Each division
3751-543: The First World War . Before World War II , destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations; typically, a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together. After the war, destroyers grew in size. The American Allen M. Sumner -class destroyers had a displacement of 2,200 tons, while the Arleigh Burke class has a displacement of up to 9,600 tons,
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3872-737: The Grasshopper class, the Sharpshooter class , the Alarm class , and the Dryad class – all built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s and the 1890s. In the 1880s, the Chilean Navy ordered the construction of two Almirante Lynch class torpedo gunboats from the British shipyard Laird Brothers, which specialized in the construction of this type of vessel. The novelty is that one of these Almirante Lynch -class torpedo boats managed to sink
3993-868: The Low Countries of the Netherlands and Flanders , the English Channel virtually became the "Spanish Channel." In 1402, a Castilian expedition led by Juan de Bethencourt conquered the Canary Islands for Henry III of Castile . In 1419, the Castilians defeated the German Hanseatic League at sea and excluded them from the Bay of Biscay . In the 15th century, Castile entered into a race of exploration with Portugal ,
4114-899: The Spanish East Indies , a base for trade with the Orient . For two and a half centuries, the Manila galleons operated across the Pacific linking Manila and Acapulco . Until the early 17th century, the Pacific Ocean was dominated by the Spanish Navy. Aside from the Marianas and Caroline Islands , several naval expeditions also discovered the Tuvalu archipelago, the Marquesas , the Solomon Islands and New Guinea in
4235-541: The Spanish Navy as a defense against torpedo boats , and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by
4356-573: The 1930s as part of Hitler's rearmament program. The Germans were also fond of large destroyers, but while the initial Type 1934 displaced over 3,000 tons, their armament was equal to smaller vessels. This changed from the Type 1936 onwards, which mounted heavy 150 millimetres (5.9 in) guns. German destroyers also used innovative high-pressure steam machinery; while this should have helped their efficiency, it more often resulted in mechanical problems. Once German and Japanese rearmament became clear,
4477-568: The Armada has a strength of 20,800 personnel. The Infantería de Marina is the marine infantry of the Spanish Navy, and the oldest marine corps in existence in the world. It has a strength of 11,500 troops and is divided into base defense forces and landing forces. One of the three base defense battalions is stationed with each of the Navy headquarters. "Groups" (midway between battalions and regiments) are stationed in Madrid and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The Tercio (fleet — regiment equivalent)
4598-669: The Atlantic to Europe. Only two such convoys were ever lost to enemy action with their cargo, one to a Dutch fleet in 1628 and another to an English fleet in 1656 . A third convoy was destroyed at anchor by another English attack in 1657 , but it had already unloaded its treasure. By the time of the wars of the Grand Alliance (1688–97) and the Spanish Succession (1702–14) , the Habsburg regime had decided that it
4719-623: The Bourbon dynasty was successful; with the French as allies and the British and Dutch neutral, Spain launched a campaign by sea and retook Sicily and southern Italy from Austria. In the War of Jenkins' Ear , the navy showed it was able to maintain communications with the American colonies and resupply Spanish forces in Italy in the face of British naval opposition. The navy played an important part in
4840-538: The British and American navies consciously focused on building destroyers that were smaller, but more numerous than those used by other nations. The British built a series of destroyers (the A class to I class ), which were about 1,400 tons standard displacement, and had four 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns and eight torpedo tubes; the American Benson class of 1938 was similar in size, but carried five 5-inch (127 mm) guns and ten torpedo tubes. Realizing
4961-729: The Cantabrian Maritime Zone with its headquarters at Ferrol on the Atlantic coast; the Straits Maritime Zone with its headquarters at San Fernando near Cádiz; the Mediterranean Maritime Zone with its headquarters at Cartagena; and the Canary Islands Maritime Zone with its headquarters at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria . Operational naval units are classified by mission and assigned to either the combat forces,
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5082-757: The Force of the Spanish Navy is called Fleet ( Flota ) and the two terms are used interchangeably. At the head of the Navy is an Almirante general (a four-star rank reserved for the Chief of the Spanish Navy and the Chief of the Spanish Armed Forces, when the latter position is held by a naval officer), denominated AJEMA or Admiral Chief of the General Staff of the Navy ( Almirante Jefe de Estado Mayor de la Armada ). Counterintuitive to this official designation he holds authority over all three components of
5203-626: The French and Dutch navies, of a numerical advantage that stretched British naval resources. They played a vital role, along with the French and Dutch, in maintaining military supplies to the American rebels. The navy also played a key role in the Spanish Army-led operations that defeated the British in Florida. The bulk of the purely naval combat on the allied side fell to the French Navy , although Spain achieved lucrative successes with
5324-655: The Holy League, formed by Spain, Venice, the Papal States and other Christian allies, inflicted a great defeat on the Ottoman Navy , stopping Muslim forces from gaining uncontested control of the eastern Mediterranean. In 1580, Spain entered a dynastic union with Portugal, reaching the apex of its naval power as a result of the combined might of its navy with the Portuguese navy , and effectively becoming
5445-446: The Mediterranean and the other of sailing ships for the Atlantic, successors to the Aragonese and Castilian navies respectively. This arrangement continued until superseded by the decline of galley warfare during the 17th century. The completion of the Reconquista with the conquest of the Kingdom of Granada in 1492 had been followed by naval expansion in the Mediterranean, where Spain seized control of almost every significant port along
5566-413: The Mediterranean. From the 1570s, the lengthy Dutch Revolt increasingly challenged Spanish sea power, producing powerful rebel naval forces that attacked Spanish shipping and in time made Spain's sea communications with its possessions in the Low Countries difficult. Most notable of these attacks was the Battle of Gibraltar in 1607, in which a Dutch squadron destroyed a fleet of galleons at anchor in
5687-409: The Philippines, and was the first major engagement of the Spanish–American War. This war marked the end for the Spanish Navy as a global maritime force. At the end of the 19th century, the Spanish Navy adopted the Salve Marinera , a hymn to the Virgin Mary as Stella Maris , as its official anthem . During the Rif War in Morocco, the Spanish Navy conducted operations along the coast, including
5808-414: The Royal Navy's first Havock class of TBDs, up to the First World War with 300-foot (91 m) long destroyers displacing 1,000 tons was not unusual. Construction remained focused on putting the biggest possible engines into a small hull, though, resulting in a somewhat flimsy construction. Often, hulls were built of high-tensile steel only 1 ⁄ 8 in (3.2 mm) thick. By 1910,
5929-581: The Russian fleet in port, firing a total of 18 torpedoes, but only two Russian battleships, Tsesarevich and Retvizan , and a protected cruiser , Pallada , were seriously damaged due to the proper deployment of torpedo nets . Tsesarevich , the Russian flagship, had her nets deployed, with at least four enemy torpedoes "hung up" in them, and other warships were similarly saved from further damage by their nets. While capital-ship engagements were scarce in World War I, destroyer units engaged almost continually in raiding and patrol actions. The first shot of
6050-436: The South Pacific. In the quest for Terra Australis , Spanish explorers in the 17th century also discovered the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos. Most significantly, from 1565 Spanish fleets explored and colonised the Philippine archipelago, the Spanish East Indies. After the unification of its kingdoms under the House of Habsburg , Spain maintained two largely separate fleets, one consisting chiefly of galleys for use in
6171-438: The Spanish Navy chose the design submitted by the shipyard of James and George Thomson of Clydebank . Destructor ( Destroyer in Spanish) was laid down at the end of the year, launched in 1886, and commissioned in 1887. Some authors considered her as the first destroyer ever built. She displaced 348 tons, and was the first warship equipped with twin triple-expansion engines generating 3,784 ihp (2,822 kW), for
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#17327826296346292-424: The Spanish Navy losing eleven ships-of-the-line or over a quarter of its line-of-battle ships. After Spain became allied with the United Kingdom in 1808 in its war of independence , the Spanish Navy joined the war effort against Napoleon. The 1820s saw the loss of most of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. With the empire greatly reduced in size and Spain divided and unstable after its own war of independence,
6413-399: The Spanish Navy was initiated, updating its ships and administration, which was helped by French and Italian experts, although Spaniards, most notably Antonio Castaneta , soon rose to prominence in this work, which made Spain a leader in warship design and quality again, as was demonstrated by ships like Princesa . A major naval yard was established at Havana , enabling the navy to maintain
6534-439: The Spanish armed forces, the Spanish Francoist Navy maintained Francisco Franco 's policy of neutrality during World War II . Since the mid-20th century, the Spanish Navy began a process of reorganization to once again become one of the major navies of the world. After the development of the Baleares -class frigates based on the US Navy 's Knox class , the Spanish Navy embraced the American naval doctrine . Spain became
6655-409: The US FRAM I programme and the British Type 15 frigates converted from fleet destroyers. Spanish Navy Spanish Navy Headquarters, Madrid The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada , is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation,
6776-416: The USN with the Paulding class of 1909. In spite of all this variety, destroyers adopted a largely similar pattern. The hull was long and narrow, with a relatively shallow draft. The bow was either raised in a forecastle or covered under a turtleback; underneath this were the crew spaces, extending 1 ⁄ 4 to 1 ⁄ 3 the way along the hull. Aft of the crew spaces was as much engine space as
6897-406: The approaches to ports and maritime terminals. Their principal components are frigates, corvettes , and minesweepers. It also has marine units for the defense of naval installations. Auxiliary forces are responsible for transportation and provisioning at sea and has diverse tasks like coast guard operations, scientific work, and maintenance of training vessels. In addition to supply ships and tankers,
7018-451: The army and navy had been established by the Bourbon regime as early as 1714; which centralized the command and administration of the different fleets. Following the war of Quadruple Alliance, a program of rigorous standardization was introduced in ships, operations, and administration. Given the needs of its empire, Spanish warship designs tended to be more orientated towards long-range escort and patrol duties than for battle. A major reform of
7139-475: The attack in the following centuries would fail. Meanwhile, Spanish ships were able to step up operations in the English Channel, the North Sea and towards Ireland. They were able to capture many enemy ships, merchant and military, in the early decades of the 17th century and provide military supplies to Spanish armies in France and the Low Countries and to Irish rebels in Ireland. In the early 17th century Spanish fleets inflicted major defeats on Ottoman Empire in
7260-400: The brass buttons and of the officers' breastplates (La gola) became a mural crown . The Spanish Republican Navy became divided after the coup of July 1936 that led to the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). The fleet's two small dreadnoughts , one heavy cruiser , one large destroyer and half a dozen submarines and auxiliary vessels were lost in the course of the conflict. Like the rest of
7381-440: The capture of two great British convoys meant for the resupply of British forces and loyalists in North America. Joint operations with France resulted in the capture of Menorca but failed in the siege of Gibraltar . Having initially opposed France in the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802), Spain changed sides in 1796, but defeat by the British a few months later in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797) and Trinidad (1798)
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#17327826296347502-449: The class gave the guns high-angle turrets for antiaircraft warfare, and the 24-inch (61 cm), oxygen-fueled Long Lance Type 93 torpedo . The later Hatsuharu class of 1931 further improved the torpedo armament by storing its reload torpedoes close at hand in the superstructure, allowing reloading within 15 minutes. Most other nations replied with similar larger ships. The US Porter class adopted twin 5-inch (127 mm) guns, and
7623-491: The coast of North Africa west of Cyrenaica , notably Melilla (captured 1497), Mers El Kébir (1505), Oran (1509), Algiers (1510) and Tripoli ( 1510 ), which marked the furthest point of this advance. However, the hinterlands of these ports remained under the control of their Muslim and Berber inhabitants, and the expanding naval power of the Ottoman Empire brought about a major Islamic counter-offensive, which embroiled Spain in decades of intense warfare for control of
7744-401: The confines of the bay. This naval war took on a global dimension with actions in the Caribbean and the Far East, notably around the Philippines. Spain's response to its problems included the encouragement of privateers based in the Spanish Netherlands and known from their main base as Dunkirkers , who preyed on Dutch merchant ships and fishing trawlers . At the Battle of Lepanto (1571),
7865-406: The construction of HMS Swift in 1884, later redesignated TB 81. This was a large (137 ton) torpedo boat with four 47 mm quick-firing guns and three torpedo tubes. At 23.75 knots (43.99 km/h; 27.33 mph), while still not fast enough to engage enemy torpedo boats reliably, the ship at least had the armament to deal with them. Another forerunner of the torpedo-boat destroyer (TBD)
7986-406: The country that inaugurated the European Age of Discovery . In 1492, two caravels and a carrack , commanded by Christopher Columbus , arrived in America, on an expedition that sought a westward oceanic passage across the Atlantic, to the Far East. This began the era of trans-oceanic trade routes, pioneered by the Spanish in the seas to the west of Europe and the Portuguese to the east. Following
8107-415: The decisive Battle of Cartagena de Indias in modern-day Colombia , where a massive British invasion fleet and army were defeated by a smaller Spanish force commanded by able strategist Blas de Lezo . This Spanish victory prolonged Spain's supremacy in the Americas until the early 19th century. The program of naval renovation was continued and by the 1750s the Spanish navy had outstripped the Dutch to become
8228-418: The destroyer was related to the invention of the self-propelled torpedo in the 1860s. A navy now had the potential to destroy a superior enemy battle fleet using steam launches to fire torpedoes. Cheap, fast boats armed with torpedoes called torpedo boats were built and became a threat to large capital ships near enemy coasts. The first seagoing vessel designed to launch the self-propelled Whitehead torpedo
8349-472: The development of destroyer warships, and again achieved a first global circumnavigation, this time by an ironclad vessel . The main bases of the Spanish Navy are at Rota , Ferrol , San Fernando and Cartagena . The roots of the modern Spanish Navy date back to before the unification of Spain. By the late Middle Ages , the two principal kingdoms that would later combine to form Spain, Aragon and Castile , had developed powerful fleets. Aragon possessed
8470-465: The discovery of America and the settlement of certain Caribbean islands, such as Cuba , Spanish conquistadors Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro were carried by the Spanish Navy to the mainland, where they conquered Mexico and Peru respectively. The navy also carried explorers to the North American mainland, including Juan Ponce de León and Álvarez de Pineda , who discovered Florida (1519) and Texas (1521) respectively. In 1519, Spain sent out
8591-512: The end of the 1890s, torpedo gunboats were made obsolete by their more successful contemporaries, the TBDs, which were much faster. The first example of this was HMS Rattlesnake , designed by Nathaniel Barnaby in 1885, and commissioned in response to the Russian War scare . The gunboat was armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats . Exactly 200 feet (61 m) long and 23 feet (7.0 m) in beam, she displaced 550 tons. Built of steel, Rattlesnake
8712-608: The first American units to be dispatched upon the American entry to the war, and a squadron of Japanese destroyers even joined Allied patrols in the Mediterranean. Patrol duty was far from safe; of the 67 British destroyers lost in the war, collisions accounted for 18, while 12 were wrecked. At the end of the war, the state-of-the-art was represented by the British W class . The trend during World War I had been towards larger destroyers with heavier armaments. A number of opportunities to fire at capital ships had been missed during
8833-645: The first expedition of world circumnavigation in history, which was put in the charge of the Portuguese Commander Ferdinand Magellan . Following the death of Magellan in the Philippines , the expedition was completed under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano in 1522. In 1565, a follow-on expedition by Miguel López de Legazpi was carried by the navy from New Spain (Mexico) to the Philippines via Guam to establish
8954-554: The fleet against attacks by torpedo boats. The ship was significantly larger than torpedo boats of the period, displacing some 2,266 t (2,230 long tons), with an armament of 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and 3.7 cm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon . The first vessel designed for the explicit purpose of hunting and destroying torpedo boats was the torpedo gunboat . Essentially very small cruisers, torpedo gunboats were equipped with torpedo tubes and an adequate gun armament, intended for hunting down smaller enemy boats. By
9075-720: The fleet they were supposed to protect. In 1892, the Third Sea Lord , Rear Admiral John "Jacky" Fisher ordered the development of a new type of ships equipped with the then-novel water-tube boilers and quick-firing small-calibre guns. Six ships to the specifications circulated by the admiralty were ordered initially, comprising three different designs each produced by a different shipbuilder: HMS Daring and HMS Decoy from John I. Thornycroft & Company , HMS Havock and HMS Hornet from Yarrows , and HMS Ferret and HMS Lynx from Laird, Son & Company . These ships all featured
9196-657: The force included destroyers and a large number of patrol craft. Until February 2013, when it was decommissioned because of budget cuts, the second largest vessel of the Armada was the aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias , which entered service in 1988 after completing sea trials. Built in Spain, it was designed with a "ski-jump" takeoff deck. Its complement was 29 AV-8 Harrier II vertical (or short) takeoff and landing (V/STOL) aircraft or 16 helicopters designed for anti-submarine warfare and to support marine landings. As of 2012 ,
9317-549: The greatest firepower of all destroyers in the world throughout the first half of the 1920s. This was largely because, between their commissioning in 1920 and 1926, they retained the armament that they had while serving in the Italian Navy as scout cruisers ( esploratori ). When initially ordered by Romania in 1913, the Romanian specifications envisioned three 120 mm guns, a caliber which would eventually be adopted as
9438-425: The heavier cruisers , with no battleships or true battlecruisers remaining. Modern guided-missile destroyers are equivalent in tonnage but vastly superior in firepower to cruisers of the World War II era, and are capable of carrying nuclear-tipped cruise missiles . At 510 feet (160 m) long, a displacement of 9,200 tons, and with an armament of more than 90 missiles, guided-missile destroyers such as
9559-516: The introduction of smaller and cheaper specialized antisubmarine warships called corvettes and frigates by the Royal Navy and destroyer escorts by the USN. A similar programme was belatedly started by the Japanese (see Matsu -class destroyer). These ships had the size and displacement of the original TBDs from which the contemporary destroyer had evolved. Some conventional destroyers completed in
9680-537: The ironclad Blanco Encalada with a self-propelled torpedoes in the Battle of Caldera Bay in 1891, thus surpassing its main function of hunting torpedo boats. Fernando Villaamil , second officer of the Ministry of the Navy of Spain , designed his own torpedo gunboat to combat the threat from the torpedo boat. He asked several British shipyards to submit proposals capable of fulfilling these specifications. In 1885,
9801-668: The late 1940s and 1950s were built on wartime experience. These vessels were significantly larger than wartime ships and had fully automatic main guns, unit machinery, radar, sonar, and antisubmarine weapons, such as the squid mortar . Examples include the British Daring -class , US Forrest Sherman -class , and the Soviet Kotlin -class destroyers. Some World War II–vintage ships were modernized for antisubmarine warfare, and to extend their service lives, to avoid having to build (expensive) brand-new ships. Examples include
9922-521: The loss of Sicily, Sardinia, Menorca and Gibraltar . Gibraltar and Menorca were captured by Anglo-Dutch forces fighting under the Spanish flag of Habsburg contender Charles VI . Menorca was ultimately surrendered to Spain years later. At the end of the War of Spanish Succession, Spain's possessions in the Low Countries and mainland Italy were ceded to Austria . Attempting to reverse the losses of
10043-537: The main battle fleets were largely inactive. The blockade was lifted with the Peace of Amiens 1802. The war recommenced in 1804 and ended in 1808 when the Spain and the United Kingdom became allied against Napoleon . As in the first part, Cádiz was blockaded and Spanish naval activity was minimal. The most notable event was Spanish involvement in the Battle of Trafalgar under French leadership. This resulted in
10164-661: The most famous being the discovery of America and the first global circumnavigation . For several centuries, it played a crucial logistical role in the expansion and consolidation of the Spanish Empire , and defended a vast trade network across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe , and the Manila Galleon across the Pacific Ocean between the Philippines and the Americas. The Spanish Navy
10285-481: The most powerful maritime force in the world. In the 1580s, the conflict in the Netherlands drew England into war with Spain , creating a further menace to Spanish shipping. The effort to neutralise this threat led to a disastrous attempt to invade England in 1588, however, the disaster of the English Armada the following year managed to return the balance between the belligerents. The defeat of 1588 led to
10406-489: The navy lost its importance and shrank greatly. The first new steam-driven vessel ( Isabel II ) was purchased from the United Kingdom in 1834. However, in the 1850s and 1860s, particularly under the prime-ministership of General O'Donnell , significant investments were made in the Spanish naval squadrons of the Pacific. A new steam-powered naval squadron sailed around the Pacific escorting a Spanish scientific expedition and unfortunately became entangled in what has been billed
10527-602: The need for heavier gun armament, the British built the Tribal class of 1936 (sometimes called Afridi after one of two lead ships). These ships displaced 1,850 tons and were armed with eight 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns in four twin turrets and four torpedo tubes. These were followed by the J-class and L-class destroyers, with six 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns in twin turrets and eight torpedo tubes. Antisubmarine sensors included sonar (or ASDIC), although training in their use
10648-432: The offensive role of torpedo boats themselves, so they were also fitted with torpedo tubes in addition to their antitorpedo-boat guns. At that time, and even into World War I, the only function of destroyers was to protect their own battle fleet from enemy torpedo attacks and to make such attacks on the battleships of the enemy. The task of escorting merchant convoys was still in the future. An important development came with
10769-565: The potential to hide from gunfire and close underwater to fire torpedoes. Early-war destroyers had the speed and armament to intercept submarines before they submerged, either by gunfire or by ramming. Destroyers also had a shallow enough draft that they were difficult to hit with torpedoes. The desire to attack submarines under water led to rapid destroyer evolution during the war. They were quickly equipped with strengthened bows for ramming, and depth charges and hydrophones for identifying submarine targets. The first submarine casualty credited to
10890-500: The powers of the strongest men in the long run. A destroyer is always more uncomfortable than the others, and rain, snow, and sea-water combine to make them damp; in fact, in bad weather, there is not a dry spot where one can rest for a moment." The Japanese destroyer-commander finished with, "Yesterday, I looked at myself in a mirror for a long time; I was disagreeably surprised to see my face thin, full of wrinkles, and as old as though I were 50. My clothes (uniform) cover nothing but
11011-542: The previous war, in the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–20) the Spanish Navy successfully convoyed armies to invade Sicily and Sardinia , but the poorly maintained escort fleet was destroyed by the British in the Battle of Cape Passaro and the Spanish invasion army was defeated in Italy by the Austrians. A major program to renovate and reorganise the run-down navy was begun. A secretaría (ministry) of
11132-459: The protective forces, or the auxiliary forces. Combat forces are given the tasks of conducting offensive and defensive operations against potential enemies and for assuring maritime communications. Their principal vessels include a carrier group, naval aircraft, transports, landing vessels, submarines, and missile-armed fast attack craft . Protective forces have the mission of securing maritime communications over both ocean and coastal routes, securing
11253-555: The rank insignia descriptions for this part of the Navy. The Spanish Navy shares the organization model of its two sister services – the Spanish Army and the Spanish Air and Space Force . Each of them consists of a Headquarters ( Cuartel general ), a Force ( Fuerza , composed of the operational units) and a Force Support ( Apoyo a la fuerza , composed of administration, logistical and training units). For historical traditions
11374-645: The remaining two-sevenths, fore and aft, are the crew's quarters; officers forward and the men placed aft. And even in those spaces are placed anchor engines, steering engines, steam pipes, etc. rendering them unbearably hot in tropical regions." The TBD's first major use in combat came during the Japanese surprise attack on the Russian fleet anchored in Port Arthur at the opening of the Russo-Japanese War on 8 February 1904. Three destroyer divisions attacked
11495-490: The seafaring population. During the Spanish–American War in 1898, a badly supported and equipped Spanish fleet of four armored cruisers and two destroyers was overwhelmed by numerically and technically superior forces (three new battleships, one new second-class battleship, and one large armored cruiser) as it tried to break out of an American blockade in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba . Admiral Cervera 's squadron
11616-494: The standard for future Italian destroyers. Armed with three 152 mm and four 76 mm guns after being completed as scout cruisers, the two warships were officially re-rated as destroyers by the Romanian Navy . The two Romanian warships were thus the destroyers with the greatest firepower in the world throughout much of the interwar period. As of 1939, when the Second World War started, their artillery, although changed,
11737-411: The steam-driven displacement (that is, not hydroplaning ) torpedo boat had become redundant as a separate type. Germany, nevertheless, continued to build such boats until the end of World War I, although these were effectively small coastal destroyers. In fact, Germany never distinguished between the two types, giving them pennant numbers in the same series and never giving names to destroyers. Ultimately,
11858-520: The subsequent Mahan class and Gridley classes (the latter of 1934) increased the number of torpedo tubes to 12 and 16, respectively. In the Mediterranean, the Italian Navy's building of very fast light cruisers of the Condottieri class prompted the French to produce exceptional destroyer designs. The French had long been keen on large destroyers, with their Chacal class of 1922 displacing over 2,000 tons and carrying 130 mm guns;
11979-429: The technology of the time would allow - several boilers and engines or turbines. Above deck, one or more quick-firing guns were mounted in the bows, in front of the bridge; several more were mounted amidships and astern. Two tube mountings (later on, multiple mountings) were generally found amidships. Between 1892 and 1914, destroyers became markedly larger; initially 275 tons with a length of 165 feet (50 m) for
12100-573: The term "torpedo boat" came to be attached to a quite different vessel – the very fast-hydroplaning, motor-driven motor torpedo boat . Navies originally built TBDrs to protect against torpedo boats, but admirals soon appreciated the flexibility of the fast, multipurpose vessels that resulted. Vice-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker laid down destroyer duties for the Royal Navy: Early destroyers were extremely cramped places to live, being "without
12221-490: The third largest navy in the late medieval Mediterranean, although its capabilities were exceeded by those of Venice and (until overtaken in the 15th century by those of Aragon) Genoa . In the 14th and 15th centuries, these naval capabilities enabled Aragon to assemble the largest collection of territories of any European power in the Mediterranean, encompassing the Balearics , Sardinia, Sicily , southern Italy and, briefly,
12342-522: The third most powerful in the world, behind only those of Britain and France. Joining France against Britain near the end of the Seven Years' War (1756–63), the navy failed to prevent the British capturing Havana , during which the Spanish squadron present was also captured. In the American War of Independence (1775–83), the Spanish Navy was essential to the establishment, in combination with
12463-558: The threat extended to cruising at sea. In response to this new threat, more heavily gunned picket boats called "catchers" were built, which were used to escort the battle fleet at sea. They needed significant seaworthiness and endurance to operate with the battle fleet, and as they inherently became larger, they became officially designated "torpedo-boat destroyers", and by the First World War were largely known as "destroyers" in English. The antitorpedo boat origin of this type of ship
12584-545: The threat had evolved once again. Submarines were more effective, and aircraft had become important weapons of naval warfare; once again the early-war fleet destroyers were ill-equipped for combating these new targets. They were fitted with new light antiaircraft guns, radar , and forward-launched ASW weapons, in addition to their existing dual-purpose guns , depth charges , and torpedoes. Increasing size allowed improved internal arrangement of propulsion machinery with compartmentation , so ships were less likely to be sunk by
12705-449: The turbine-powered Turbinia at the 1897 Spithead Navy Review, which, significantly, was of torpedo-boat size, prompted the Royal Navy to order a prototype turbine-powered destroyer, HMS Viper of 1899. This was the first turbine warship of any kind, and achieved a remarkable 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) on sea trials. By 1910, the turbine had been widely adopted by all navies for their faster ships. The second development
12826-467: The two funnels. Later, the bow torpedo tube was removed and two more 6-pounder guns added, instead. They produced 4,200 hp from a pair of Thornycroft water-tube boilers, giving them a top speed of 27 knots, giving the range and speed to travel effectively with a battle fleet. In common with subsequent early Thornycroft boats, they had sloping sterns and double rudders. The French navy, an extensive user of torpedo boats, built its first TBD in 1899, with
12947-595: The war at sea was fired on 5 August 1914 by HMS Lance , one of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla , in an engagement with the German auxiliary minelayer Königin Luise . Destroyers were involved in the skirmishes that prompted the Battle of Heligoland Bight , and filled a range of roles in the Battle of Gallipoli , acting as troop transports and as fire-support vessels, as well as their fleet-screening role. Over 80 British destroyers and 60 German torpedo boats took part in
13068-401: The war, because destroyers had expended all their torpedoes in an initial salvo. The British V and W classes of the late war had sought to address this by mounting six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts, instead of the four or two on earlier models. The V and W classes set the standard of destroyer building well into the 1920s. Two Romanian destroyers Mărăști and Mărășești , though, had
13189-446: The western part of Santo Domingo . These territories became bases for raids on Spanish New World ports and shipping by pirates and privateers. The Spanish concentrated their efforts in keeping the most important islands, such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and the majority of Santo Domingo, while the system of treasure fleets , despite being greatly diminished, was rarely defeated in safely conveying its freight of silver and Asian luxuries across
13310-488: Was composed of ironclads , in addition to auxiliary squadrons for defense of the Spanish coastline. That year the Armada consisted of one battleship , eight cruisers of the first class, six of the second class, and nine of the third class, as well as 38 torpedo craft. There were an additional ten vessels under construction. As of 1896 there were 1,002 officers in the navy, along with 725 mechanics, 14,000 sailors, and 9,000 marines. Their numbers were maintained by conscription of
13431-499: Was followed by the blockade of the main Spanish fleet in Cádiz. The run down of naval operations had as much to do with the confused political situation in Spain as it had to do with the blockade. The British blockade of Spain's ports was of limited success and an attempt to attack Cádiz was defeated; ships on special missions and convoys successfully evaded the Cádiz blockade and other ports continued to operate with little difficulty, but
13552-524: Was indifferent. Antisubmarine weapons changed little, and ahead-throwing weapons, a need recognized in World War I, had made no progress. During the 1920s and 1930s, destroyers were often deployed to areas of diplomatic tension or humanitarian disaster. British and American destroyers were common on the Chinese coast and rivers, even supplying landing parties to protect colonial interests. By World War II,
13673-549: Was more cost effective to rely on allied fleets, Anglo-Dutch and French respectively, than to invest in its own fleets. The War of the Spanish Succession arose after the establishment on the Spanish throne of a House of Bourbon king, following the extinction of the Spanish Habsburg line. The internal division between supporters of a Habsburg and those of a Bourbon king led to a civil war and ultimately to
13794-407: Was one of the most powerful maritime forces in the world from the late 15th century to mid-17th century. In the early 19th century, with the loss of most of its empire , Spain transitioned to a smaller fleet but maintained a major shipbuilding industry which produced important technical innovations. The Spanish Navy built and operated the first military submarines , made important contributions in
13915-673: Was overrun in an attempt to break a powerful American blockade off Cuba. In the Philippines, a squadron, made up of aging ships, including some obsolete cruisers, had already been sacrificed in a token gesture in Manila Bay . The Battle of Manila Bay took place on 1 May 1898. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón . The engagement took place in Manila Bay in
14036-587: Was still close to cruiser standards, amounting to nine heavy naval guns (five of 120 mm and four of 76 mm). In addition, they retained their two twin 457 mm torpedo tubes and two machine guns, plus the capacity to carry up to 50 mines. The next major innovation came with the Japanese Fubuki class or "special type", designed in 1923 and delivered in 1928. The design was initially noted for its powerful armament of six 5-inch (127 mm) guns and three triple torpedo mounts. The second batch of
14157-470: Was the 33-ton HMS Lightning in 1876. She was armed with two drop collars to launch these weapons; these were replaced in 1879 by a single torpedo tube in the bow. By the 1880s, the type had evolved into small ships of 50–100 tons, fast enough to evade enemy picket boats. At first, the threat of a torpedo-boat attack to a battle fleet was considered to exist only when at anchor, but as faster and longer-range torpedo boats and torpedoes were developed,
14278-488: Was the Japanese torpedo boat Kotaka ( Falcon ), built in 1885. Designed to Japanese specifications and ordered from the Isle of Dogs, London Yarrow shipyard in 1885, she was transported in parts to Japan, where she was assembled and launched in 1887. The 165-foot (50 m) long vessel was armed with four 1-pounder (37 mm) quick-firing guns and six torpedo tubes, reached 19 knots (35 km/h), and at 203 tons,
14399-450: Was the largest torpedo boat built to date. In her trials in 1889, Kotaka demonstrated that she could exceed the role of coastal defense, and was capable of accompanying larger warships on the high seas. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for Kotaka , "considered Japan to have effectively invented the destroyer". The German aviso Greif , launched in 1886, was designed as a " Torpedojäger " (torpedo hunter), intended to screen
14520-475: Was the replacement of the torpedo boat-style turtleback foredeck by a raised forecastle for the new River-class destroyers built in 1903, which provided better sea-keeping and more space below deck. The first warship to use only fuel oil propulsion was the Royal Navy's TBD HMS Spiteful , after experiments in 1904, although the obsolescence of coal as a fuel in British warships was delayed by oil's availability. Other navies also adopted oil, for instance
14641-405: Was unarmoured with the exception of a 3 ⁄ 4 -inch protective deck. She was armed with a single 4-inch/25-pounder breech-loading gun , six 3-pounder QF guns and four 14-inch (360 mm) torpedo tubes, arranged with two fixed tubes at the bow and a set of torpedo-dropping carriages on either side. Four torpedo reloads were carried. A number of torpedo gunboat classes followed, including
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