The C-class submarines were a class of six submarines built for the Spanish Navy between 1923 and 1930. They entered service between 1928 and 1930. All six served in the Spanish Republican Navy in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), in which three were lost. The survivors were incorporated into the navy of Francoist Spain, and the last of them was decommissioned in 1951.
Description
The Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN) built the C-class submarines to a Holland design under license from the Electric Boat Company. The C-class submarines were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding B class, with larger torpedo tubes — , in contrast to the tubes of the B class — and two more bow tubes than the B class. They had a lower submerged top speed than the B class.
Sources agree that the C-class submarines were long, but disagree on their other dimensions, describing their beam as and as and their draft as and as . On the surface they displaced or . Sources describe their submerged displacement differently, asserting that it was and that it was .
Two Vickers diesel engines driving two screws gave the C-class submarines a top speed on the surface of or , according to different sources. Their two electric motors gave them a maximum submerged speed of . Sources describe their range on the surface in various ways — as without specifying a speed, as at , and as at . Submerged, they had a range at of either or .
Each C-class submarine had six torpedo tubes — four in the bow and two in the stern — and carried ten Whitehead torpedoes. Sources disagree on their other armament: One credits them with a antiaircraft gun, while another states that they had a deck gun and a "detachable antiaircraft gun."
The C-class submarines had a crew of either 40 or 46, according to different sources. They had a diving depth of .
Service
The C-class submarines entered service in the Spanish Navy between 1928 and 1930. They served under the Kingdom of Spain until 1931, then under the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Republican Navy. In 1930, C-1 was renamed Isaac Peral in honor of the Spanish submarine pioneer of that name, but retained "C-1" as her pennant number. The other five submarines never received names.
The Spanish Civil War broke out on 17 July 1936, and all six of the submarines remained under the control of the Republican faction during the conflict. Two were lost in December 1936, when the German submarine sank while supporting the Nationalists in Operation Ursula on 12 December and was never seen or heard from again after putting to sea on 31 December. In October 1937, was scuttled to avoid capture by the Nationalists. She was refloated in 1947, but sank while under tow to the breakers.
After the war ended in 1939, the three surviving submarines were incorporated into the naval forces of Francoist Spain. sank with the loss of all hands after a collision with the destroyer during naval exercises in the Balearic Islands in 1946. The other two were decommissioned, Isaac Peral in 1948 and C-2 in 1951. Isaac Peral was sunk as a target in 1951, and C-2 sank while under tow to the breakers that year.
Submarines of the class SOURCES:
The six submarines of the C class were:
Ship name Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate SECN,Cartagena,Spain 19 July 1923 31 March 1927 18 July 1928 August 1948 Sunk as target 1951 4 March 1928 19 July 1928 June 1951 Sank under tow to breakers 5 May 1924 20 February 1929 4 May 1929 Sunk 12 December 1936 5 May 1924 6 July 1929 Sunk in collision 27 June 1946 10 October 1924 28 October 1929 16 April 1930 Missing after 31 December 1936 12 February 1925 27 September 1930 Scuttled 20 October 1937; refloated November 1947;sank under tow to breakers
See also List of historic Spanish Navy ships List of submarines of the Spanish Navy
References Citations
Bibliography ABC (newspaper, in Spanish)
La Vanguardia newspaper (in Spanish)