Spanish battleship Pelayo

Pelayo in 1889.
History
Armada Española Ensign
NamePelayo
NamesakePelagius of Asturias
BuilderForges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée La Seyne, France
Laid downApril 1885
Launched5 February 1887
Completedsummer 1888
Nickname(s)Solitario ("Solitary" or "Lonely")
FateDisarmed 1923; scrapped 1925
General characteristics
TypeBattleship
Displacement
  • 9,745 long tons (9,901 t) (standard)
  • 10,810 long tons (10,983 t) (full load)
Length393 ft 8 in (119.99 m)
Beam66 ft 3 in (20.19 m)
Draft24 ft 9 in (7.54 m) maximum
Installed power9,600 ihp (8,000 ihp on trials with natural draft)
Propulsion2-shaft, vertical compound, 12 return-tube boilers; in 1897–1898 her boilers were replaced by 16 Niclausse boilers.
Sail planAs built 4,000 square feet (1,219 square meters), but quickly removed.
Speed
  • 16.7 knots (forced draft) as built (1888)
  • 16.2 knots (natural draft) on trials.
Complement520 officers and enlisted
Armament
Armor
  • Creusot steel.
  • Belt 17.75–11.75 inches (451–298 millimetres)
  • Barbettes 15.75–11.75 inches (400–298 millimetres)
  • Shields 3.125 inches (79.4 mm)
  • Conning tower 6.125 inches (155.6 mm)
  • Deck 2.75–2 inches (70–51 millimetres)
  • Midships battery unarmored as built; 3 inches (76 mm) Harvey armor after 1897–1898 reconstruction.
Notes800 tons of coal

Pelayo was a battleship of the Spanish Navy which served in the Spanish fleet from 1888 to 1925. She was the first battleship and the most powerful unit of the Spanish Navy at the time. Despite its modern design for the time, Pelayo and the rest of the Spanish Asia-Pacific Rescue Squadron never engaged in combat during the Spanish–American War. Some historians have argued that had the battleship, along with the modern armored cruiser Carlos V, participated directly in the conflict the course of the war would have been altered dramatically and possibly lead to a Spanish victory, thus retaining Spain's status as a colonial power.[1]

  1. ^ "ABC: El "Pelayo", el acorazado español que aterrizó a los Estados Unidos (23 November 2011)". ABC. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.