Méndez Núñez was a Spanish Navy light cruiser commissioned in 1924. She served the Kingdom of Spain until 1931, seeing action in the Rif War. She then served the Second Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1939, operating in support of the Republican faction as part of the Spanish Republican Navy during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, and was present at the Battle of Cape Cherchell and the Battle of Cape Palos. After the Nationalist victory in 1939, she served in the reunified Spanish Navy of Francoist Spain and was reconstructed as an anti-aircraft cruiser between 1943 and 1947. She took part in the Ifni War of 1957–1958. She was decommissioned in 1963 and scrapped in 1964.
Characteristics The Blas de Lezo-class ships were ordered as "fast cruisers" inspired by the design of the British C-class light cruisers. They were slower than the C-class, however, which in service proved to be their main limitation as combat ships, and they were reclassified as light cruisers as a result.
The ships were long between perpendiculars and long overall. They had a beam of , a maximum draft of , and a height of . Their standard displacement was 4,780 tons, and they displaced 6,045 tons at full load.
The ships were armed with six Vickers guns in single mounts, two forward, two aft, one on either side amidships, as well as four anti-aircraft guns located along the sides between the funnels. In 1930, twelve torpedo tubes of in four triple mounts were installed.
The propulsion system, which consisted of four sets of Parsons turbines, six coal-fired Yarrow boilers, six oil-fired Yarrow boilers, generated and drove four propellers. The ships had a maximum speed of . The fuel capacity was 730 tons of fuel oil and 800 tons of coal, giving the ships a range of at an economical cruising speed of .
The ships were armored, with of belt armor, of deck armor, and a conning tower with of armor. Each ship had a crew of 320 men.
Construction and commissioning
The Spanish Cortes Generales approved the construction of four "fast cruisers" on 17 February 1915. The first two became the ships, while the second pair became the ships of the class. Spanish budgetary problems and a shortage of raw materials during World War I (1914–1918) delayed construction of the ships.
Méndez Núñez was laid down in May 1915 by the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN, English: Spanish Naval Construction Society) at Ferrol, Spain, with the name Blas de Lezo as the first ship of the Blas de Lezo class, and was launched on 27 July 1922. While she was fitting out, an order of May 1924 swapped her name with that of the first ship of the class, previously known as Méndez Núñez, so that the first ship's commissioning in 1924 could honor the centenary of Contralmirante (Counter Admiral) Casto Méndez Núñez.
Now named Méndez Núñez, the first ship left Ferrol on 1 July 1924 to conduct speed and fuel consumption tests, remaining at sea for 24 hours using coal and fuel oil. She carried out more tests on 9 July. She conducted more speed and fuel consumption tests on 10 July 1924 with a Spanish Navy inspection committee aboard and reached a speed of , and on 11 July carried out the last tests required by contract. Her armament was installed in August 1924. On the morning of 12 August 1924 she left Ferrol for gunnery tests, returning to port that night. The shipyard officially delivered to the Spanish Navy at Ferrol on 30 August 1924.
Service history Kingdom of Spain 1925–1927 Méndez Núñez′s first voyage in naval service was in September 1924 to Santander and San Sebastián, where the Spanish royal family visited her. On 29 January 1925, she left Ferrol for gunnery exercises at Marín. After completing them, she proceeded to Cádiz, which she reached on the afternoon of 7 February 1925. On 14 February, she got back underway and arrived at Santa Pola at 17:00 the same day. On 15 February 1925 she put back to sea in company with the transport Contramaestre Casado bound for Cartagena.
Méndez Núñez, the battleship , and the destroyers and conducted gunnery exercises off Santa Pola on 18 February 1925. Méndez Núñez arrived at Barcelona on the morning of 26 May 1925 to attend a visit to the city by King Alfonso XIII. The King embarked aboard her on the morning of 29 May. She arrived at Castellón de la Plana on 30 May with General Miguel Primo de Rivera aboard. She left Alicante on the night of 3 June 1925 bound for Cádiz, and she joined the Spanish squadron in the Bay of Gibraltar in June.
Méndez Núñez, her sister ship , Alsedo, and Velasco were at Ceuta on the coast of North Africa in mid-July 1925 when they departed for Ferrol, Spain. They then proceeded to Santander and San Sebastián. On 27 July 1925 the four ships arrived at Santander, where King Alfonso XIII received them. A French Navy squadron consisting of two battleships and two destroyers also arrived at Santander. The Spanish royal family and both light cruisers were on hand at Santander on 3 August 1925 when Alsedo and Velasco were presented with their battle ensigns, acquired by popular subscription. On 5 August 1925 the two light cruisers arrived at Málaga, and on 11 August they were back at Ferrol. After refueling, they got underway on 13 August bound for the coast of Spanish Morocco, where Spanish forces had been fighting Rifians in the Rif War since 1921. They rendezvoused with the Training Squadron in the Bay of Gibraltar at 17:00 on 19 August 1925.
In September 1925, the Spanish Navy assembled two squadrons for the Alhucemas landing during the ongoing Rif War. The Training Squadron was one of them, and it gathered at Ceuta. Consisting of Alfonso XIII, the battleship , Méndez Núñez, Blas de Lezo, Alsedo, and Velasco, the Training Squadron left Ceuta on 6 September and disembarked Spanish Army troops in an amphibious landing on Cebadilla Beach west of Al Hoceima (Spanish: Alhucemas) on 8 September. On 11 September, Méndez Núñez carried out a diversionary operation off Uad Lau, and she repeated the operation over the following days with other warships. While supporting the Alhucemas landing, she fired 1,750 shells, and enemy fire hit her on several occasions on . She left Cala del Quemado on the night of 21 November 1925 and proceeded to Cartagena to refuel.
After gunnery exercises off Santa Pola in mid-April 1926, Méndez Núñez, Alfonso XIII, and Jaime I put into port at Tarragona. The three ships departed Cartagena on 20 May 1926 in company with Blas de Lezo, Velasco, and the destroyer for exercises off Mazarrón. They called at Málaga on 21 May, then proceeded to Al Hoceima. In late June 1926, Méndez Núñez arrived at Ferrol. In early July 1926, Méndez Núñez, Alfonso XIII, and Jaime I arrived at Marín. After a week of gunnery practice, the two battleships returned to Ferrol on 9 July, and Méndez Núñez arrived there on 14 July 1926.
Méndez Núñez left Ferrrol on 30 July 1926 for a voyage to Vigo and Santander. She was at Santander in early August 1926 while King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie visited Spain's northern coast. On 26 August Blas de Lezo left Ferrol to relieve Méndez Núñez in the Cantabrian Sea, and at 09:00 that day Méndez Núñez returned to Ferrol. She got back underway on 28 August bound for Marín and on 29 August arrived at Vigo with Minister of the Navy Honorio Cornejo Carvajal aboard. She received her battle ensign there on the morning of 30 August 1926. In mid-September 1926 she departed Ferrol to proceed to Barcelona, where she received a squadron of Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) destroyers that made a visit there. On 12 October 1926 she was at Ferrol with Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Blaz de Lezo, the light cruiser Reina Victoria Eugenia, and a number of minor warships and auxiliary ships.
On 29 December 1926 Méndez Núñez′s commanding officer committed suicide in his cabin because of a chronic illness. His successor died in the first week of January 1927 while Méndez Núñez was at Ferrol. Before the end of January she was assigned her third commanding officer in a month, and he reported aboard on 2 February 1927. She began a month of repairs at Ferrol in early March 1927. In mid-June 1927 she conducted gunnery exercises off Marín with Alfonso XIII and Jaime I. After a stop at Corcubión, Méndez Núñez arrived at Vigo on 7 July 1927 as part of a squadron that also included the two battleships, Reina Victoria Eugenia, and two torpedo boats. After gunnery practice a few days later in the Pontevedra estuary, the battleships headed back to Ferrol and Méndez Núñez proceeded to San Sebastián. In June and July 1927 Méndez Núñez took part in exercises off Galicia with the Training Squadron, forming a cruiser division with Reina Victoria Eugenia. After completing them, she visited several ports on the northern coast of Spain. The two cruisers called at Vigo from 1927 to refuel, then proceeded to Santander.
On 1 September 1927, King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie embarked on Méndez Núñez at Santander for a voyage to Bilbao, where they took part in the Balandros regatta. Méndez Núñez departed Bilbao on 6 September to rejoin the squadron. On 18 September, Méndez Núñez, Alfonso XIII, and Reina Victoria Eugenia escorted the king and queen as they arrived at Vigo aboard Jaime I. The king and queen subsequently visited several ships of the squadron as they and the squadron called at Ferrol, La Coruña, Villagarcía, and Vigo, where the king and queen disembarked on 28 September 1927. The squadron moved on to Algeciras, where King Alfonso XIII, arriving overland, met it and again embarked. The squadron departed Algeciras on 3 October 1927 to take the king on an inspection trip to pacified areas in Spanish Morocco, then returned to Spain at Málaga on the morning of 9 October 1927. By mid-October 1927 the Training Squadron was at Valencia.
In October 1927, King Alfonso XIII signed a royal decree reorganizing the Spanish Navy. In the new organization, Méndez Núñez′s squadron was no longer called the Training Squadron, and Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, and two new light cruisers which were about to enter service, and , were assigned to it. In addition, the decree created a Cruiser Division — composed of Méndez Núñez, Blas de Lezo, and Reina Victoria Eugenia — which was subordinated to the squadron.
1928–1929 Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Méndez Núñez, Blas de Lezo, and Reina Victoria Eugenia departed Barcelona early on the morning of 1 March 1928 for a voyage to Almería and Málaga. The three light cruisers made a stop at Cádiz, then got back underway on 6 March and steamed north. Blas de Lezo parted company with the other two ships and moored at Lisbon, Portugal, on 7 March because one of her officers had fallen seriously ill. Méndez Núñez and Reina Victoria Eugenia arrived at Marín on 9 March, and Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, and all three light cruisers arrived at Vigo from Marín on 10 March. The five ships conducted gunnery exercises off Marín on . The Cruiser Division arrived at Ferrol in late March and at Vigo on 20 April 1928.
In the second week of May 1928, the three light cruisers arrived at Ferrol to have their bottoms cleaned and to undergo repairs. They departed Ferrol on 28 June 1928 headed for Gijón with Príncipe Alfonso, which received her battle ensign there. At San Sebastián on 8 July 1928, they received battle ensigns donated by the province of Gipuzkoa from Queen Victoria Eugenia, as did the Spanish Navy's new training ship, the barquentine .
On 19 July 1928, Méndez Núñez began a voyage from Ferrol to La Coruña. From there she proceeded to Bilbao with the captain general of the Department of Ferrol aboard, arriving on 24 July. Early on the morning of 27 July, she got back underway and, after a stop at Pasajes on 28 July, proceeded to Santander, where she attended King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie. She then docked at Musel on 31 July and at Gijón on 2 August before returning to Ferrol.