Princesa de Asturias was the lead ship of the class of armored cruisers. She was in commission in the Spanish Navy from 1903 to 1927. She took part in the Second Melillan campaign in 1909, the Kert campaign of 1911–1912, and the Rif War of 1921–1926.
Characteristics Princesa de Asturias was long and had a beam of , a draft of , and a displacement of 6,888 tons.Chesneau and Kolesnik (1979), p. 382 She had reciprocating steam engines rated at driving two shafts, giving her a top speed of . Her main armament consisted of two guns mounted in single turrets. Her secondary armament consisted of eight guns on single mounts.
The Princesa de Asturias-class ships in essence were modernized s with more modern and better-balanced armament, but like the Infanta Maria Teresa-class ships their armour coverage was not comprehensive, and the ships were poorly armoured by the standards of their time. Princesa de Asturias had belt armour of , conning tower and barbette armour of , turret armour, and deck armour.
Construction and commissioning Princesa de Asturias was ordered by a royal decree of 17 September 1888. She was laid down at the Arsenal de La Carraca at San Fernando, Spain, on 23 September 1889. The first attempt at launching her on 8 October 1896 failed when she moved only 2 metres ( feet). A second attempt on 9 October also did not succeed, the ship moving only another despite the efforts of tugs to pull her down the slipway. She lay with her stern in the water and the forward part of her hull still on the slipway, in danger of sustaining a broken keel, until 17 October 1896, when she suddenly began to move again of her own accord during a high tide that lifted her hull, entering the water with such force that she ran aground in mud on the opposite bank of the channel. Tugs had to pull her free. These events earned Princesa de Asturias two nicknames in the Spanish Navy: The launch attempt that failed despite the attempts of tugs to pull her down the slipway gave her the nickname El Arrastrao ("The Dragged One"), and her unplanned entry into the water eight days later gave her the nickname El Espontáneo ("The Spontaneous One").
While Princesa de Asturias was fitting out, she suffered damage in 1899 when a boom suspending a boiler above her broke during an attempt to lower the boiler into her hull for installation, and the boiler fell into her hull instead. She got underway from Cádiz on the morning of 2 July 1902 to conduct successful engine tests. She then entered dry dock to have her bottom cleaned. She began sea trials on 29 January 1903 and finally was delivered to the Spanish Navy on 10 June 1903. Her lengthy construction period of nearly 14 years meant that she was obsolete by the time she entered service. Her total construction cost was 14,000,000 pesetas.
Service history 1903–1905 In June 1903, Princesa de Asturias departed Cádiz and rendezvoused with other Spanish Navy ships at Cartagena, Spain, for King Alfonso XIII's visit there. When the king visited on 22 June 1903, he signed papers submitted to him by Minister of the Navy Joaquín Sánchez de Toca Calvo which officially appointed Princesa de Asturias′s commanding officer to command of her. On 7 May 1904, Princesa de Asturias was part of a squadron — which also included the unprotected cruiser (with the captain general of the Department of Cádiz and other officials embarked), the protected cruisers and , and the destroyer — that escorted Alfonso XIII as he traveled aboard the yacht Giralda to visit the Compañía Transatlántica Española at Cádiz. Alfonso XIII departed Cádiz that afternoon for a voyage to Huelva.
Princesa de Asturias conducted naval exercises with the Training Squadron off Cantabria between the end of September and mid-October 1904. After completing the exercises, the squadron called at Ferrol, then proceeded to La Coruña, which it reached on the afternoon of 3 November 1904. The ships then made a voyage along the coast of Galicia, visiting Corcubión, Muros, Marín, and finally Vigo. The ships got underway from Vigo on 29 November 1904 and proceeded to the Cíes Islands, where they conducted gunnery exercises. Soon after that, the squadron visited Cádiz, where it received the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn, Prince Arthur and Princess Louise Margaret, on 13 January 1905 after their arrival at Cádiz aboard the Royal Navy armoured cruiser . From 5 to 25 February 1905, the squadron visited Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It then returned to Spain, where part of it, including Princesa de Asturias, anchored at Vigo on the afternoon of 25 March 1905. Princesa de Asturias later moved to Ferrol to have her bottom cleaned.
Princesa de Asturias and her sister ship departed Ferrol on 27 May 1905 to escort King Alfonso XIII aboard Giralda. After a stop at Cherbourg, France, the ships arrived at Portsmouth, England, on 3 June 1905 for Alfonso XIII's visit to the United Kingdom. The ships got underway from Portsmouth on 16 June and arrived at Ferrol on the afternoon of 18 June 1905.
On 30 June 1905 the two armored cruisers got back underway from Ferrol to conduct naval exercises in the waters off Rías Baixas (Spanish: Rías Bajas). After completing them, they departed Marín at 06:00 on 13 July 1905 with Princesa de Asturias serving as the flagship of the division commander. After rendezvousing with Extremadura off Cape Ortegal, they arrived on 13 July at San Sebastián, where they joined Giralda for an international regatta. After its completion, the two armored cruisers got underway for Bilbao on 30 July. They returned to San Sebastián on the morning of 6 August during an unusually fierce summer storm.
During the first week of August 1905, Princesa de Asturias moved from Santander to Ferrol to prepare for a visit to the Netherlands. With her preparations complete, she departed Ferrol on 25 August 1905 and on 30 August reached the Netherlands, where she participated in a naval review. After returning to Spain, she spent much of October 1905 taking part in gunnery exercises with the Training Squadron off Galicia. In late October 1905, the squadron headed for the Mediterranean Sea, where it called at several ports before arriving at Mahón on Menorca in the Balearic Islands. At the beginning of December 1905 Princesa de Asturias entered dry dock at the Arsenal de Cartagena in Cartagena to have her bottom cleaned, and at the end of December 1905 she received a new commanding officer.
1906–1909 On 7 January 1906, Princesa de Asturias departed Cartagena and, after a stop at Cádiz, arrived at Ferrol in mid-January to pick up crews and supplies for the Mediterranean Squadron. After embarking 700 sailors and loading the supplies, she returned to the Mediterranean. She entered dry dock at Cartagena on 1 February 1906 to have her bottom cleaned again.
After returning to service with the Training Squadron, Princesa de Asturias departed Cartagena on 16 March 1906 in company with Río de la Plata, the battleship , and the armored cruiser and steamed to Cádiz, where other ships of the squadron joined them. On 23 March 1906 the Training Squadron got underway from Cádiz in two divisions — one consisting of Princesa de Asturias, Emperador Carlos V, and the destroyer and the other of Pelayo, Río de la Plata, and the protected cruiser . The squadron rendezvoused with Giralda and the Compañía Transatlántica Española passenger steamer Alfonso XII, the latter with the Spanish royal family and Minister of the Navy Víctor María Concas Palau aboard. They then escorted King Alfonso XIII on his visit to the Canary Islands, arriving at Tenerife on 26 March, at Las Palmas on 30 March, at Santa Cruz de la Palma on 3 April, and at Hierro Island on 4 April 1906. Alfonso XIII and the squadron returned to Cádiz on 7 April 1906.
On 7 May 1906, Princesa de Asturias, Pelayo, Emperador Carlos V, and Río de la Plata left Cadiz and, after stops at Ceuta and Málaga, arrived at Cartagena. At the end of June 1906, Princesa de Asturias and Río de la Plata departed Cartagena for a cruise along the Spanish coast. As part of the Training Squadron, Princesa de Asturias conducted naval exercises off Santa Pola, after which the squadron visited Alicante. The squadron got back underway on 4 July 1906 and proceeded to Barcelona.
Princesa de Asturias departed Barcelona on 11 July 1906 and, after stopping at Cádiz to coal, arrived at Ferrol. She got back underway from Ferrol on 23 July and on 25 July arrived at San Sebastián, where she rendezvoused with Giralda, which had King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie aboard. The two ships moved on to Santander, from which they departed on 30 July bound for Cowes on the Isle of Wight in England. They arrived at Cowes in company with Extremadura — which had three of Alfonso XIII's small racing boats lashed to her deck — on 1 August 1906, calling there until 13 August, then proceeded to Southampton, where the king and queen disembarked for a visit to England and Scotland. The two ships departed Southampton and arrived at Cowes on 21 August and at San Sebastián on 23 August. Príncipe de Asturias parted company with Giralda there and rejoined the Training Squadron at Bilbao on 24 August 1906.
Princesa de Asturias was at Málaga on 3 November 1906, awaiting a visit to the city by King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie. Due to unrest in Morocco, she departed Málaga in company with the French Navy armored cruiser bound for Tangier, where the two ships anchored on 6 November 1906. After confirming that Tangier was calm, Princesa de Asturias proceeded to Cádiz. After coaling and embarking Spanish Army troops, she headed back to Tangier in mid-December 1906, then returned to Cadiz in mid-January 1907.
In mid-February 1907, Minister of the Navy José Ferrándiz y Niño made a visit to Princesa de Asturias′s squadron during which he observed it while it carried out several exercises off Cádiz. He then embarked on Princesa de Asturias to visit the other Spanish naval departments. While at Ferrol on 25 March 1907, Princesa de Asturias received orders to proceed to Cartagena accompanied by Extremadura, Giralda, and the destroyer . They were among a number of ships that attended a meeting between King Alfonso XIII and King Edward VII of the United Kingdom which took place in Cartagena's harbor from 1907.
Princesa de Asturias departed Cartagena in mid-April 1907 to conduct wireless telegraphy tests with her sister ship using a new system invented by a Spanish telegraphist. She got underway on 23 April for Barcelona, where she repeated the tests with Emperador Carlos V. She rendezvoused at Barcelona with the Training Squadron, which left port on 7 May 1907 and headed for the Balearic Islands, where it conducted maneuvers. As part of a division that also included Extremadura, Río de la Plata, and two torpedo boats, Princesa de Asturias carried out additional maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea in the first week of June 1907. The division arrived at Villagarcía de Arosa on 20 June and in the following days carried out maneuvers with Pelayo, Osado, and Proserpina off the coast of Galicia. The ships spent July and August 1907 operating in the Cantabrian Sea.