Júpiter-class minelayers was a group of four vessels of the Spanish Republican Navy built during the Spanish Republic. Three of them came into service during the Civil War after joining the rebel side.
Design and construction The minelayers were commissioned by the Government of the Republic to SECN shipyards at Ferrol in 1935, a year before the start of the Spanish Civil War. The construction had been approved by the Cortes on 27 March 1934, after a proposal from the minister of the navy Juan José Rocha García. The warships of the class were designed to protect the Balearic islands in the event of a war between France and Italy.
Operational history
Civil War The first three ships of the class were seized by the insurgents and served in the rebel fleet at the very beginning of the war. Their first deployment was the blockade of Bilbao.Moreno de Alborán y de Reyna, Fernando: La guerra silenciosa y silenciada: Historia de la campaña naval durante la guerra de 1936–39. Madrid, 1998, v. 2. Due to the lack of destroyers in the Franco's fleet, and the potential of their armament, the main mission of these vessels was not minelaying, but to face Government units in open combat, despite their slow speed.
Júpiter Along with Vulcano, Júpiter was one of the main players in the blockade of international shipping in the ports of Biscay, where she took part in the capture of several merchantmen, especially the British Candleston Castle, Dover Abbey and Yorkbrook, the French Cens and a number of Basque Auxiliary Navy trawlers during the second half of 1937.Log of insurgent cruiser Almirante Cervera She also laid four minefields off Santander and Gijón, from April to July 1937. The rebel battleship España was lost on 30 April after hitting by accident one of her mines at Santander. There were only four casualties among Españas crew.El rastreo de minas
On 17 July, while on patrol off Gijón, Júpiter caught two British cargo ships while they were attempting to run the blockade. One of them, Sarastone, managed to reach the harbor despite being fired on. The other steamer, Candleston Castle, stopped after the minelayer fired two shots across her bows. She was handed over by Júpiter to the auxiliary cruiser Ciudad de Palma, which escorted the captured merchantman to Ferrol.Tres días después, el minador “Júpiter”, de patrulla frente a Gijón, apresaba al “Candlestone Castle”, no pudiendo evitar, pese a cañonearlo, que el “Sarastone” entrara en El Musel. El “Candlestone Castle” y el “Kellwyn”, de pabellón británico como los anteriores, habían salido el día uno de Julio de Santander hacia Francia con refugiados, protegidos por dos destructores y un acorazado ingleses. Después de ese viaje, ambos barcos llevaban varios días esperando para entrar en Santander, dirigiéndose a Gijón ante la imposibilidad de hacerlo en aquel puerto. El “Candlestone Castle” procedía de Burdeos y el “Sarastone”, también en lastre, había salido de Saint Nazaire. El “Candlestone Castle” fue conducido al Ferrol por el crucero auxiliar "Ciudad de Palma". Asturias Republicana Parliamentary debate, 21 July 1937 A fruitless sortie was launched from the French port of Saint Jean de Luz by the Royal Navy battleship and the destroyer .
She engaged the Basque Auxiliary Navy destroyer Císcar on 10 August off Gijón. During this exchange of fire, Júpiters gunfire accidentally straddled the British destroyer .Gretton, Peter (1984). El Factor Olvidado: La Marina Británica y la Guerra Civil Española. Editorial San Martín, p. 385. . Foreign Office: Index to the correspondence of the Foreign Office for the year 1937, Part 4. Kraus-Thomson, 1937, page 545 Occasionally, she also provided support fire for the rebel troops inland. On 24 August 1937, after the fall of the port of Santoña, Júpiter, along with other naval units was called from Bilbao to watch the British steamer Seven Seas Spray, taken in custody by Nationalist troops while attempting to evacuate Basque troops as part of the ill-fated Santoña Agreement between the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie and the Basque Nationalist Party.Moreno de Alborán y de Reyna, Fernando: La guerra silenciosa y silenciada: Historia de la campaña naval durante la guerra de 1936–39. Madrid, 1998, p. 278.
On 5 October, while she was escorting the seized freighters Dover Abbey and Yorkbrook to Ribadeo, the former vessel sent a distress message to , giving the position and course of the convoy and claiming that her capture had taken place outside territorial waters. Actually, they have been caught by armed trawlers off shore, well inside Spanish maritime boundaries. Júpiter successfully outran the British battleship and the convoy reached destination without incident.Ordené reunir las presas para ser conducidas por el “Tito” a Ribadeo, ya que este bou debía de ser relevado por la tarde por el “Tritonia”. Al “Júpiter” le ordené escoltar los bous hasta verlos entrar en Ribadeo y al “Fantástico” le ordené continuar la vigilancia frente a Avilés. A mediodía se sorprendieron unos radios que el “Dover Abhey” dirigía al “Resolution”, dándole su situación 6 millas al NW de cabo Peñas. Indebidamente continuaron confundiendo cabo Vidio con cabo Peñas. Le decían habían sido obligados a parar en esa situación y que, aparentemente, eran conducidos a Ferrol. Como el “Resolution” contestó que se dirigía a su encuentro, arrumbé nuevamente al encuentro del convoy desde el N de cabo Peñas, donde me encontraba en aquellos momentos. A las 2h. 30m., los buques se encontraban a la altura del cabo Busto y navegaban sin novedad hacia Ribadeo. No viendo cerca el acorazado inglés, regresé nuevamente al cabo Peñas y las 15h. encontré al “Resolution” a la altura de Avilés. Dicho buque me pasó el siguiente despacho: De “Resolution” a “Cervera”.– Ruego me diga si tiene usted alguna información del barco mercante inglés “Dover Abhey”. De “Cervera” a “Resolution”.– Sí, vapores “Dover Abhey” y “Yorkbrook” fueron capturados esta mañana 2 millas al NE cabo Vidio y son conducidos a Ribadeo. Log of insurgent cruiser Almirante Cervera
At least five minor vessels carrying refugees and soldiers of the Republican army where seized by the minelayer after the fall of the last government's strongholds on northern Spain by the end of October.Relación de buques capturados por los nacionales
On Christmas Day 1937 Júpiter shelled the port of Burriana, near Castellon, in the Mediterranean coast, where the British freighter Bramhill was at anchor. The merchant was hit by several rounds, specially on her bow, and had to withdraw to Marseille to undergo repairs.Heaton, Paul Michael: Welsh Blockade Runners in the Spanish Civil War. Starling Press, 1985. Page 74. Foreign Office: Index to the correspondence of the Foreign Office for the year 1938, Part 4. Kraus-Thomson, 1969, page 81 Guerra Naval en Castellón
Towards the end of the war, along with the auxiliary cruiser Mar Negro, she supported the landing of an infantry division on Mahón, Menorca, after the Republican surrender of this island, on 9 February 1939.Salas Larrazábal, Ramón & Jesús: Historia general de la Guerra de España. Rialp, 1986, page 393. She was one of the units involved in the blockade of Alicante, where thousands of refugees gathered in order to flee Spain when Franco's victory was in sight. Assisted by her sister ships, Júpiter entered the port on 31 March, the day before the official end of the conflict, in order to land the 121st and 122nd Galician Regiments.
After the Spanish Civil War, in December 1940, Júpiter carried out an undercover reconnaissance mission around Gibraltar with Admiral Canaris, General Lang and a Spanish officer aboard. The goal was to gather intelligence about the British fortifications and boom defenses as a first step toward the proposed Operation Felix.Suárez Fernández, Luis (2005). Franco. Ariel, p. 188.
Vulcano
Vulcano temporarily blocked the entrance to Gijón of the British merchants StanrayA mediodía, encontrándome a 18 millas al N de Tazones, recibí un radio en claro del "Vulcano" en el que me decía salía un destructor de Gijón. Arrumbé a cabo Peñas y avisté al “Vulcano” con un vapor inglés y un destructor. Según me comunicó más tarde, a mediodía intentaron entrar los vapores ingleses “Mydol” y “Stanray”. Al entrar dentro del límite de las aguas jurisdiccionales este último, disparó y le ordenó parar, viendo que este barco metía a una banda, lo creyó capturado, pero como, al parecer, no paró las máquinas, el almirante inglés no concedió captura, diciendo que el barco había metido para escapar. Log of insurgent cruiser Almirante Cervera and Stangrove.El "Vulcano" comunicó que a 1h. había encontrado al vapor inglés "Stangrove" que se dirigía a Gijón con luces apagadas. Al ser reconocido, se alejó hacia el N. Log of insurgent cruiser Almirante Cervera At the end of the war in the north she joined a naval squadron which drove back the steamers Hillfern, Bramhill, Stanhill and Stanleigh off Cape Peñas, seizing a number of small Republican vessels crowded with refugees in the process.Log of insurgent cruiser Almirante Cervera During this period she shelled, without success, the British Thorpebay when this steamer entered the port of the Musel.Log of insurgent cruiser Almirante Cervera Between the last months of 1937 and 1939 Vulcano was active in the Mediterranean, where she was part of the rebel fleet which bombarded Castellon, Burriana and Vinaròs on Christmas Day 1937. She played a key role, along with her sisters ships, in ferrying troops after Franco's army reach the coast between Valencia and Barcelona in April 1938.
On 17 October 1938, she seized the Soviet cargo ship Katayama, of 3,200 tons. She also played a secondary role in the capture of the Greek merchant Victoria by the auxiliary cruiser Mar Cantábrico and the British Stangrove by the gunboat Dato, in the final months of the civil war. All these freighters joined the Spanish merchant fleet at the end of the conflict.Moreno de Alborán y de Reyna, Fernando: La guerra silenciosa y silenciada: Historia de la campaña naval durante la guerra de 1936–39. Madrid, 1998, v. 4, part 2.
Perhaps the most famous action of Vulcano is the chase and capture of the Republican off Gibraltar, in the course of a battle fought as close as between the ships involved. José Luis Diez eventually became stranded in Catalan Bay, in the territory of Gibraltar, the last day of 1938. The destroyer was turned over to Franco's government after its recognition by Britain as the legitimate authority in Spain.The José Luis Diez issue , a lecture by Dennis D. Beiso, Gibraltar, 2002