Columbus: A Historic Battleship
According to the definition given by the Royal Language Academy, the term History stands for narration and exposition of past events that are worth to be recalled, whether they are public or private. A lot has been said and written on this Spanish-flagged cruiser that was built and designed by Italian experts. I intend to review the movements of this ship since it was bought by the Spanish crown until the day it sailed to its final destination: the waters off Santiago de Cuba.
Click on Santiago de Cuba: A City of 500 Years
In 1896 Spain hadn’t been capable of putting an end to the uprising in Cuba, the declaration of freedom issued in Baire in 1895 was all over the island. The burning torch applied by the Cuban liberating army, headed by Major Generals Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, had metropolitan authorities on the rack: the Spanish power began to teeter. That complex situation brought about the resignation of General of the Army Arsenio Martínez Campos, once known as the pacifier.
The situation can be illustrated by an abstract of the speech given by liberal politician Práxedes Mateo Sagasta at the Congress on May 19, 1897, right when the Columbus was handed to the Spanish government. Sagasta, who was a member of the opposition during the government of Cánovas, said: “After having sent 200,000 men and shed so much blood, we own nothing on the island but the space where our soldiers are buried.”
On the other hand, the United States never hid their interest in Cuba and carried out ambiguous actions in the conflict between Cuba and Spain: they were pushing Spain to sell the island, they didn’t recognize the belligerence right of the Cuban liberating army and, nonetheless, they allowed it to receive weapons, military supplies and there were Cubans operating from North American territory. That weakening war between the metropolis and its colony was just what the North Americans needed in terms of their annexationist intentions: that was the authentic US’ objective with Cuba.
The United States knew for sure that the Spanish Crown wouldn’t be capable of holding this situation for longer, it was like fishing in troubled waters, the ultimate situation to buy cheap, the fruit, Cuba, was already ripe. They had already pushed the Spanish government to sell Cuba, but the Spaniards had rejected the offers, claiming that the island was part of their national territory in spite of its status as an overseas island, and the government of María Cristina de Habsburgo wasn’t interested in giving up to its sovereignty. The Spanish government wouldn’t sell the island to the US or give it to its legitimate owner: the Cuban people. It would take too long to explain the socioeconomic moment and international geopolitics that had put the Greater Antilles in such a delicate situation, but Spain decided to be ruined by a long weakening war in terms of economy and the high number of human lives that were lost, the crème de la crème of Spanish youth, of course, there was none from the high society. There is one phrase that summarizes this reality: “up to the last man and the last peseta”.
The North Americans knew for sure, just as one of their ideologists - Captain Mahan - had described it, that it was impossible to be a colonial empire without a fine Navy. The US Navy undersecretary, Theodore Roosselvelt, made good use of Mahan’s ideas and that marked the birth of a new empire and the decline of another one. The manifest destiny was inexorably taking place.
The other face of the coin was the precarious situation of the Spanish navy at the time. A letter written on March 14, 1896 by Admiral Pascual Cervera to his cousin Juan Spottorno reads “We don’t have squadron. I don’t envy the sad glory, if there is any glory in been defeated for certain…! I beg you not to destroy this letter, but to keep it just in case my opinion is ever needed”. Spain was aware of its navy inferiority and gave a last try to improve its situation.
The project to strengthen the navy was supported by the extraordinary credit approved on March 29, 1896. This project aimed at acquiring one battleship and two cruisers, and the operation was supervised by Navy Minister Admiral Beránger. Actually only one cruiser was bought: our Christopher Columbus. The word was put on the streets of Madrid on August 27, 1896. The Congress had approved the acquisition of a cruiser that had been built by Gio Ansaldo & Co., at Geneva’s Ansaldo Sestri Ponente shipyards, for the Italian Navy. Spain paid 690,000 pounds sterling.
The cutting-edge cruiser at the time was designed by Benedetto Brin, supervised by the general of navy engineers Edoardo Masdea. The design was based on three main characteristics: -Counting on units capable of operating a cruiser. -Strategic use of powerful weapons and efficient armor. -Possibility of engaging bigger units due to its speed and fire power with quick-firing cannons. The first battleship of this Garibaldi class series sailed in 1893. It was named after Giuseppe Garibaldi. Ten units were built and sold to Argentina, Italy, Spain and Japan, the last one bought two units that successfully fought during the Russian-Japanese war in 1905. The Columbus should have been named Giuseppe Garibaldi as its predecessor was bought by the Argentinean navy. It was been built for the Italian navy, so when the Spanish government bought it the name was changed to “Admiral Christopher Columbus”, after the notable Genovese Admiral that had discovered the American continent 404 years ago. The cruiser first sailed on September 16, 1896, at 9 a.m. as it was ready, but the two 254mm-Armstrong cannons had to be positioned on bow and stern.
The cruiser was delivered to the Spanish government on May 19, 1897, and it arrived in Santiago de Cuba a year later. After several speed tests to assess the response capability of its 24 Niclause steam boilers with 13,000 horsepower, the sailors got that nickel steel 6,840-ton mass to move at the impressive speed of 21 knots. Spain was about to buy a second unit, similar to the Columbus, which would have been named “Pedro de Aragón”, but the deal was never closed.
Once the Spanish authorities approved the cruiser, it sailed to Mahón, and docked there on August 10, 1897. Its arrival to the Menorca Island was spoiled by the news of the death of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, president of the Cabinet. Emilio Díaz Moreu, commander of the cruiser, had telegraphed days before the arrival so the mayor of Mahón was aware of it and had prepared a great welcome, but the assassination of Cánovas stopped the activities from taking place. The city wanted to give the battleship its combat flag, but it was impossible because of the soon departure to Cartagena.
October 20, 1897, was another important date for the Columbus, as rear admiral Pascual Cervera was appointed commander of the instruction squadron, later named Antilles operations. The Columbus joined the squadron, along with Nervión cruisers, Vizcaya-class cruisers and 3 destroyers. The die was casted. During the short but intense life of the Italian cruiser before the departure to its final destination at the Caribbean Sea on March 8, 1898, the Columbus visited several Spanish ports: Ferrol, Santa Pola… and even Lisbon.
The war in Cuba had triggered tensions between Spain and the United States. The weird circumstances surrounding the explosion of the Maine on February 15, 1898, at the bay of Havana, was announcing an imminent armed conflict. Due to the growing hostility between both nations, the Columbus sailed with the flag battleship of the squadron, María Teresa, commanded by Admiral Cervera, on March 8 toward San Vicente de Cabo Verde. When the whole squadron was stationed at the Portuguese archipelago, and due to the lack of strategic vision of politicians and sailors in Madrid, Cervera was told to sail to a fatal destination. On April 29, 1898, he telegraphed the coded phrase “I’m going north”.
The Admiral set sail to an unknown destination in some Spanish Antillean port, and we all know that it was Santiago de Cuba. Madrid had given the green light for disaster, a squadron and hundreds of men had been sentenced to death.
I have talked about the terrible fate of this cruiser, but I must correct my words as thousands of ships went from the shipyard where they were built to the final scrapping and still they were undistinguished, they have fallen into oblivion, but the Columbus is still recalled. It’s now included in the history.
As far as I’m concerned, I’m a diver not a historian. The Columbus became an obsession, getting to know its past, literally diving into the history. Since the very first time I saw it with my own hands and touched it back in 1996, I felt like I was watching and touching history. By studying the Columbus I have gotten into the thrilling moment it faced in this episode of the history of both Cuba and Spain.
The Columbus made me dig into its history, without being an expert in the subject, 1898 marked me and there is a before and after in my life.
After my first trip to Cuba in order to dive in a ship called Columbus, a member of the squadron commanded by an Admiral named Cervera, I didn’t even know where the shipwreck was. That makes me think that perhaps I had a manifest destiny too.
