Cadarso was a Spanish Navy in commission from 1917 to 1930. She served under the Kingdom of Spain, seeing action in the Rif War of 1921–1926.
The Spanish Navy originally intended to name the ship Requesens, after Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga (1528–1576), a Spanish general, sailor, diplomat, and politician who as the lieutenant-general and chief adviser to John of Austria effectively was in command of the Holy League fleet in its victory at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. He later was governor of the Duchy of Milan from 1572 to 1573 and governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1573 to 1576).
At some point prior to her commissioning, however, the ship was renamed Cadarso in honor of Capitán de navio (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) Luis Cadarso y Rey de Andrade (1843–1898), a Spanish naval officer killed in action during the Spanish–American War while in command of the unprotected cruiser during the Battle of Manila Bay on 1898. For identification, she had a large white "C" painted on her bow.
Design and characteristics
Construction and commissioning The Spanish Minister of the Navy, Admiral José Ferrándiz y Niño, approved the Fleet Law of 1908 on 1908. It authorized the construction of the three s, as well as the three s, six gunboats, and 22 torpedo boats.
The third and final ship of the Bustamante class, Cadarso was laid down at the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN; Spanish Shipbuilding Society) at Cartagena, Spain, on 1913. She was launched on 1914 and commissioned on 1917.
Service history 1917–1920 World War I had begun in the summer of 1914, and upon joining the Spanish fleet, Cadarso patrolled extensively in Spanish waters to enforce Spain's neutrality during the conflict, which ended in November 1918. On 1920, Cadarso made a voyage from Ferrol to Santander, where she remained for several days while King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie visited the city.
Rif War, 1921–1923 The Rif War broke out in Spanish Morocco in 1921, pitting Spanish forces against Berber tribes in the Rif region. Carrying a cargo of ammunition for Spanish naval vessels operating in the conflict, Cadarso arrived at Melilla on the coast of North Africa on 1921. After departing Melilla, she arrived at the Arsenal de La Carraca in San Fernando on the morning of 1921. She loaded more ammunition and transported it to the war zone for transfer to the steamer Jorge Juan. Cadarso got underway from Melilla on 1921 bound for Cádiz. On 1922, she departed Cádiz bound for Larache and Alcazarquivir in Spanish Morocco with the chief of the Spanish Marine Infantry, General de división (Division General) José Ignacio de Carranza y Fernández Reguera, aboard. After arriving in North Africa, he inspected the personnel of the Marine Infantry expeditionary regiment.
On the night of 1922, the destroyer and the seaplane carrier departed Melilla as part of a squadron under the overall command of Vicealmirante (Vice Admiral) Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas. The rest of Aznar's squadron — Cadarso, the battleship , the destroyers and , and the coastal patrol vessel — got underway from Melilla shortly thereafter. Also taking part in the operation were the steamers Lázaro, carrying three companies and a platoon of infantry, and España No. 5, carrying a battalion of troops from Ceuta and a group of Regulares from Tétouan. The squadron conducted a simulated amphibious landing off Cala Iris — a beach at Alhucemas — and left indigenous Moroccan troops to take up positions at M'Ter.
On the night of 1922, a squadron under Aznar's overall command consisting of 19 ships — Cadarso, Alfonso XIII, Bustamante, Villaamil, Dédalo, the armored cruiser , the gunboats and , two torpedo boats, the coastal patrol vessels and , the fuel tankers H-2 and H-3, and five smaller vessels — departed Melilla. The squadron simulated amphibious landings along the North African coast in the Bocoya inlet between Punta Bebazun and Cabo Quilates, at Sidi Dris, and at Afrau. The squadron bombarded Riffian positions at Sidi Dris and Afrau from 1922 onward.
On 1922, Bustamante, accompanied by Dédalo, departed Melilla and headed to the Arsenal de La Carraca at San Fernando to have her hull cleaned and Cadarso replaced her on convoy escort duty along the North African coast between Melilla, Peñón de Alhucemas in the Alhucemas Islands, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera. That day, Cadarso steamed from Melilla to Punta Mayorga before returning to Melilla. On , she received orders to escort a convoy made up of Larache, the steamer España No. 5, and several tugs to Peñón de Alhucemas. On the night of 1922 she departed Melilla with a convoy bound for Peñón de Alhucemas with the patrol vessel and two tugs.
On the morning of 1923, a squadron under the command of Vicealmirate (Vice Admiral) José Rivera y Álvarez de Canero consisting of Cadarso, Alfonso XIII (Rivera's flagship), Alcázar, Bonifaz, the battleship , the protected cruiser , the gunboat , and other, smaller vessels arrived off Alhucemas. Five thousand Moorish troops who had boarded the troopship España No. 5 early that morning made an amphibious landing at Afrau, while Alcázar and Lauria bombarded several Riffian positions near the landing site and and España shelled Riffian forces at Alhucemas. Once ashore, the troops advanced in three columns to relieve Spanish forces besieged by the Riffians at Tifaruin. More troops arrived on , and that day Cadarso, with 48 wounded men aboard, returned to Melilla accompanied by Lauria.
1923–1930
King Alfonso XIII, Queen Victoria Eugenie, and Prime Minister Miguel Primo de Rivera embarked on the battleship on and departed for Italy on accompanied by the Trasmediterránea mail steamer — which was carrying the royal entourage — and escorted by Cadarso, Villaamil, the battleship Alfonso XIII, the light cruiser Reina Victoria Eugenia, and the submarines , , , and . The royal family disembarked at La Spezia, Italy. The squadron anchored at Naples, Italy, on . After the completion of the royal visit, the squadron returned to Spain, arriving at Barcelona on and at Cartagena on 1923.
In Spain, Cadarso was assigned to duty with the Training Squadron. On the morning of 1924, the squadron — consisting of Cadarso, Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Bustamante, and Villaamil — got underway from Cartagena to conduct gunnery exercises off Santa Pola. After completing the exercises, the squadron called at Valencia before arriving on 1924 at Barcelona, where they rendezvoused with Reina Victoria Eugenia, the troopship Contramaestre Casado, and an Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) squadron visiting the port. Sources provide conflicting accounts of the squadron's subsequent activities. According to one, the two battleships and three destroyers departed Barcelona and visited the Balearic Islands before returning to Cartagena on 1924. According to another, the ships remained at Barcelona until and then proceeded to Cartagena.
At 09:00 on 1924, Cadarso, Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Bustamante, and Villaamil departed Barcelona to conduct maneuvers in the Gulf of Roses. After completing them, the ships proceeded to the Balearic Islands, where they visited Mahón on Menorca and Palma de Mallorca on Mallorca. They then stopped at Alicante before returning to Cartagena.
Cadarso arrived at Palma de Mallorca on 1925, which a British Royal Navy squadron was visiting at the time. Villaamil also was at Palma de Mallorca during the British visit. Cadarso returned to Cartagena on 1925. With the Rif War dragging on, she arrived at Algeciras on 1925 and joined the squadron which conducted the Alhucemas landing on the North African coast on 1925. The Rif War ended in 1926.
Cadarso participated in squadron maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea in 1929 that began in and concluded in October. During the maneuivers, she provided communications and navigation support to torpedo boats and seaplanes.
Disposal Decommissioned in September 1930, Cadarso was the first of the Bustamente-class destroyers to be retired. She was scrapped later that year and officially stricken from the navy list by the end of the year.
References Citations
Bibliography ABC (newspaper, in Spanish)
El Globo (newspaper, in Spanish) El Sol (newspaper, in Spanish)
Heraldo de Madrid (newspaper, in Spanish) La Acción (newspaper, in Spanish) La Correspondencia de España (newspaper, in Spanish) La Época (newspaper, in Spanish) La Vanguardia (newspaper, in Spanish) La Voz de Galicia (newspaper, in Spanish) Semanario Vida Marítima (Maritime Life Weekly)
External links