In the same manner as the other two branches of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, the Spanish Republican Navy went through two clear phases during its existence: • The pre-Civil War phase, before the
coup of July 1936 that would fracture the Spanish military institution • The situation after the pro-fascist coup, when most of the fleet remained loyal to the republican government after the crews had overrun their officers and formed committees. Faced with the coup, many officers joined it and others hesitated; only about 5% of the top officers stood steadfastly for the Spanish Republic. The officer corps was later partially reinstated with the aim of improving coordination in the course of the
Spanish Civil War.
First years of the Republic (1931–1936) Spain had inherited a
large navy from colonial times. A sizeable military fleet had been deemed necessary when the Spanish crown ruled over such far-flung places as the
Philippines and
Cuba, but by the early 1930s young military officers saw the institution as too large, old-fashioned and ineffective. They balked at the costs and at the lack of results of the Spanish military during the
Rif Wars in Morocco and their vision was to have a smaller and more modern Spanish Navy that would meet the needs of the country.
Ramón Franco, who was in the Air Force at the time of the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, said: "Our little colonies —referring to the small outposts in the Moroccan shores, the
Western Sahara and
Equatorial Guinea— don't need a strong navy made up of large and numerous units. The policing of our harbors, the implementing of fishery laws and the prevention of
smuggling are nowadays the only missions that our Navy has to do." Most top Navy officers, however, were comfortable with the old system, enjoying the perks and the prestige the Navy provided. Life in the high echelons of the Spanish Navy was more glamorous than among Army and Air Force officers, for it often included
Yacht Club membership, with
regattas,
gala dinners and
balls. They cast a dim eye on the reforms of the armed forces introduced by newly nominated Republican
Minister of War Manuel Azaña within the first few months of the new government. Azaña's aim was to modernize the Spanish Military and cut down the expenses of the state in the aftermath of the
Great Depression, but the naming of
Santiago Casares Quiroga, a civilian without a Navy background, as Minister of the Navy was unwelcome by the traditional Spanish Navy officers who despised Casares Quiroga and privately mocked him. In order to ingratiate itself with key officers in the Navy, the Republican Government promoted to high posts men such as Lieutenant Commander
Ángel Rizo Bayona who was given the post of representing the state in the
Trasmediterránea Shipping Company and Navy engineer
Alfredo Cal Díaz who was promoted to the post of Navigation Director. But Azaña's lack of finesse in his dealings with the more conservative officers of the Spanish Navy established a deep mistrust between the majority of those having high posts in the Navy and the new government. Military reform measures were implemented already within the first month of the Republic, such as the
repeal of the 1906 "
Law of Jurisdictions" (
Ley de Jurisdicciones) on 17 April, reform of the
military rank rise system; reduction of the armed forces by scrapping ineffective units, reduction of the number of high military officers and the replacement of the War and Navy Military Tribunal (
Consejo Supremo de Guerra y de Marina) whose functions were taken over by a Military department at the High Court, among other measures.
The Civil War (1936–1939) The
Spanish coup of July 1936 dealt a severe blow to the structure of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, which ended up fragmented on the basis of joining the rebels or remaining loyal to the established government. The failure of the coup, especially in the main cities,
Madrid,
Barcelona,
Bilbao and
Valencia, along with the collapse of authority and the lack of agreement in the first brief negotiations, were only some of the factors that made the conflict drift towards open war.
José Giral's government tried to put together a Volunteer Army based on the units that had remained loyal, but the urgency of the moment played in favor of the formation of popular militias that were armed by parties and trade unions. The main naval bases of the Spanish Republican Navy were
Ferrol (Northern Coast),
Cádiz (Southern Coast) and
Cartagena (Eastern Coast). The takeover of the Navy by coup leaders failed mainly because the messages calling for a rebellion against the Spanish Republic were not sent in
code, as would have been the norm, from
Ciudad Lineal to the senior officers commanding the ships. A young Navy
radiotelegrapher, Benjamín Balboa, later took credit for the
news leak. As a result, most crews in naval ships were alerted and took over the command, overwhelming their officers. Thus, most of the ships of the Spanish Navy remained loyal to the republic, but many of the experienced top officers had been imprisoned and some were killed during the countermutinies, a fact that hampered the efficiency of the loyalist navy. The rebellion, however, was successful in wide areas of Northern and Southern Spain and the important bases of Ferrol and Cádiz would fall into rebel hands. Warships that were in the dockyard, including heavy cruiser that was under construction at Ferrol, were seized and hastily put into use. Cádiz was taken for the rebels with the help of the first troops from the Army of Africa. Despite the fact that the greater part of the Spanish coast was on the republican side and despite the great number of naval units belonging to the Spanish Republican Navy, there was a lack of effective action in the first, decisive weeks of the war. Some of the most experienced commanders, such as
Francisco Bastarreche,
Pedro Nieto Antúnez,
Francisco Núñez Rodríguez,
Gabriel Pita da Veiga y Sanz,
Francisco Regalado Rodríguez,
Manuel Vierna Belando and the brothers
Francisco and
Salvador Moreno Fernández, had defected to the rebels. In addition the crew committees
(Comités de Buque) that had taken over the command of the ships were not able to deal with the high coordination that was required at the time. Later in 1936, Republican Defence Minister
Indalecio Prieto terminated the
Comités de Buque as part of his sweeping reorganization of the Republican Armed Forces. The
Third Reich and
Italian Fascist military provided decisive support for
General Franco's fraction of the army, so that the Spanish Republican Navy was unable to keep the
blockade of the
Strait of Gibraltar. Thus, on 5 August 1936, the so-called
Convoy de la victoria was able to bring at least 2,500 men of the
Army of Africa from
Spanish Morocco to
Peninsular Spain breaking the republican blockade. From August 6 rebel transport ships crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, with the cover of Italian bombers and republican
Alcalá Galiano was attacked and hit by Fascist aircraft while steaming back to
Málaga. Pro-Franco sources claim that she suffered 18 seamen killed and 28 wounded. On August 7, the and the cruiser
Libertad shelled
Algeciras and severely damaged rebel
gunboat Eduardo Dato and
armed trawler Uad Kert (ex- ; ex-) . Shortly thereafter a Nazi German
Junkers Ju 52 struck the Republican battleship
Jaime I and Italian bombers began to harass the Republican fleet so that it could not longer prevent the passage of transport ships. Furthermore, two German cruisers, and patrolled the Strait on so-called
non-intervention missions. In addition, the
United Kingdom authorities in
Gibraltar and
Tangier were openly hostile to the Spanish Republic. British oil companies at Gibraltar, refused to sell fuel to Republican ships and the Tangier International Commission denied the use of the harbor to the Spanish Republican Navy, claiming that "it was contrary to the city's neutrality". Nevertheless, the same British governing bodies authorized the passage of food, goods and gasoline for the Nazi German transport planes and their crews in Spanish Morocco. By the end of September, the Republic
had lost the control of the waters between Morocco and the mainland. Thenceforward the Republican Armada was forced to operate from its bases in
Málaga and
Cartagena without being allowed to use the harbor facilities at Gibraltar and Tangiers. Moreover, the Navy's
Aeronáutica Naval planes were unable to hinder the massive
airlift of troops from Spanish Morocco undertaken by the rebel side. This was the world's first long-range combat airlift and it was achieved using mostly Ju 52 planes provided by
Hitler during the
German re-armament phase. Following the
Expedición al Mar Cantábrico, a naval operation that entered the
Bay of Biscay in September and October 1936, the Republican Navy became mainly confined to the
Mediterranean Sea, its operations in the
Bay of Biscay were taken over by the
Basque Auxiliary Navy. By late 1937, however, the whole northern coast was lost following the fall of
Asturias and many ships were seized by the rebels, including destroyer
Císcar, which after being refurbished was made part of the Nationalist Navy. Following the defeat of the Spanish Republican fleet on 7 September 1937 at the
Battle of Cape Cherchell, when a series of tactical errors on the part of the republican command allowed
rebel cruiser to escape,
Luis González de Ubieta became the Captain general of the fleet and hitherto commander
Miguel Buiza Fernández-Palacios was relieved of his duties. President
Manuel Azaña could not hide his disappointment, acknowledging in his memories the indecisiveness of the former commander of the Spanish Republican Navy despite having a greater number of ships. The fact, however was that both commanders of the fleet were only in their thirties and had been hurriedly promoted by Defence Minister Indalecio Prieto owing to the lack of loyal top officers. Under Luis González de Ubieta's command the Republican Navy concentrated in the protection of maritime
convoys that were supplying the
internationally isolated Spanish Republic, as well as in the training of naval officers and their ships' crews. In March 1938, however,
Baleares, accompanied by five rebel destroyers, was engaged again by the Republican Navy off in the
Battle of Cape Palos, off
Cartagena's shores. During the gunnery duel, Republican destroyers , and , all fired their torpedoes. Two or three of
Lepantos torpedoes hit
Baleares, detonating her forward
magazine and sinking her. Out of her crew of 1,206, she had 765 seamen killed or missing, among them rebel vice admiral
Manuel Vierna Belando, commander of the Nationalist
cruiser division. The sinking of rebel heavy cruiser
Baleares was hailed as a great victory by the republican government. Following this victory, commander of the republican fleet Luis González de Ubieta was awarded the
Laureate Plate of Madrid (Placa Laureada de Madrid), the highest military award for gallantry of the Second Spanish Republic. The
Distintivo de Madrid, which had been established by the Spanish Republic in order to reward courage, was given to cruisers
Libertad and
Méndez Núñez, and destroyers
Lepanto,
Almirante Antequera and
Sánchez Barcáiztegui, as well as to their crew members. This entitled these ships to fly a special
pennant and their crews to wear a special badge on their uniforms with the old
Coat of arms of Madrid. Despite the propaganda value of this victory for the Republic it had little noticeable effect on the war as a whole.
Twilight and end of the Civil War On 5 March 1939,
Spanish Republican Army Colonel
Segismundo Casado made an anticommunist coup and proclaimed a (
Consejo Nacional de Defensa). On the same day the
Nationalist Air Force bombed the harbour of Cartagena, the main base of the Republican Navy, sinking destroyer
Sanchez Barcaiztegui. Following the bombing and the unrest in the city where
a rebellion was under way, Commander
Miguel Buiza, who had shortly been reinstated as commander of the republican fleet, ultimately ordered the evacuation of the bulk of the seagoing Republican Armada. As soon as night fell cruisers
Miguel de Cervantes,
Libertad and
Mendez Nuñez, destroyers
Lepanto,
Almirante Valdés,
Almirante Antequera, ,
Escaño,
Gravina,
Jorge Juan and
Ulloa as well as submarines C-2 and C-4, left Cartagena harbor speeding eastwards towards the
Algerian coast. Off
Oran Miguel Buiza asked for permission to anchor, but the permission was denied by the naval authorities of
French Algeria. These directed him towards
Bizerte in the
French protectorate of Tunisia where the fleet was impounded by the
French authorities. Except for a few crewmen who were put on guard duty on the ships, the Spanish Republican seamen and their officers were interned in a
concentration camp at
Meheri Zabbens. In the last months of the war some of the
steamers belonging to the
Compañía Transatlántica Española and
Trasmediterránea companies were requisitioned by the Republican Navy and were used for evacuating refugees from coastal cities besieged by the Francoist armies. By the end of the conflict eight major Republican warships, totaling 5,676 tons, had been sunk by the enemy; the surviving ships of the Republican fleet became part of the Navy of
Francoist Spain. Most of the documents relating to the Spanish Republican Navy are currently kept at the
Archivo General de la Marina "Álvaro de Bazán". ==Naval Battles of the Civil War==