Spanish destroyer Pluton
Encyclopedia
Plutón, was an Audaz-class destroyer
of the Spanish Navy
that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba
during the Spanish-American War
.
attack, but also carrying torpedoes with which to attack larger ships herself.
As tensions between Spain
and the United States
grew in early 1898, Plutón was part of the Spanish Navy
's 1st Squadron, commanded by Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete
. The squadron was ordered to concentrate at São Vicente
in Portugal
's Cape Verde Islands. Accordingly, Plutón, in company with Cervera's flagship, armored cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa
, armored cruiser Cristobal Colon
, and destroyers Furor
and Terror
, departed Cadiz on 8 April 1898 and arrived at São Vicente on 14 April 1898. The ships had experieced mechanical problems and burned an excessive amount of coal during the voyage. Soon, the squadron was reinforced by two more armored cruisers, Vizcaya
and Almirante Oquendo
.
The Spanish-American War
began while Plutón was at São Vicente. Ordered by neutral Portugal in accordance with international law to leave São Vicente within 24 hours of the declaration of war, Plutón and the rest of Cervera's squadron departed on 29 April 1898, bound for San Juan
, Puerto Rico
. Because of continuing engine trouble and low coal supplies, Plutón and her fellow destroyers were towed part of the way. Cervera's ships reached French-owned Martinique
in the Lesser Antilles
on 10 May 1898. While Plutón and the armored cruisers loitered in international waters, Furor and Terror went into Fort-de-France
to ask for coal. France
was neutral and would not supply coal, so the Spanish squadron—minus Terror, which stayed behind at Fort-de-France with engine trouble—departed on 12 May 1898 for Dutch-owned Curaçao
, where Cervera expected to meet a collier. Cervera arrived at Willemstad
on 14 May, but the Netherlands
also was neutral, and strictly enforced its neutrality by allowing only Vizcaya and Infanta Maria Teresa to enter port and permitting them to load only 600 tons of coal. On 15 May, Cervera's ships departed, no longer bound for San Juan, which by now was under a U.S. Navy blockade, but for as-yet unblockaded Santiago de Cuba
on the southeastern coast of Cuba
, arriving there on 19 May 1898. Cervera hoped to refit his ships there before he could be trapped. His squadron was still in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba when an American squadron arrived on 27 May 1898 and began a blockade which would drag on for 37 days.
Some action occurred during the blockade. On 3 June 1898, the U.S. Navy steamed the collier USS Merrimac
into the entrance channel to the harbor, hoping to scuttle her so as to block the channel and trap the Spanish ships inside. Spanish shore batteries already had disabled Merrimac when she drifted up the channel to a point where the Spanish ships could fire on her as well. Plutón, Vizacaya, and unprotected cruiser Reina Mercedes
all opened fire, and Merrimac quickly sank in a position that did not block the entrance. Apparently a torpedo from Plutón gave the coup de grâce
to the Merrimac.
The blockade wore on, with Plutón and the others enduring occasional American naval bombardments of the harbor. Some of her men joined others from the fleet in a Naval Brigade to fight against a U.S. Army overland drive toward Santiago de Cuba.
By the beginning of July 1898, that drive threatened to capture Santiago de Cuba, and Cervera decided that his squadron's only hope was to try to escape into the open sea by running the blockade. The decision was made on 1 July 1898, with the break-out set for 3 July 1898. The crew of Plutón spent 2 July 1898 returning from Naval Brigade service and preparing for action. Plutón was to be the sixth and last ship in line during the escape, following the four armored cruisers and Furor; while Infanta Maria Teresa sacrificed herself by attacking the fastest American ship, the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn
, Plutón and the others were to avoid action, put on all the speed they could, and run for the open sea.
At about 0845 hours on 3 July 1898, the Spanish ships got underway. The U.S. squadron sighted the Spanish ships in the channel at about 0935, and the Battle of Santiago de Cuba
began.
While the four armored cruisers turned to starboard to run westward, Plutón and Furor turned inside them and made their run closer to the coast. The blockading American battleship
s and armored cruisers opened fire on the two destroyers as they emerged from the channel, hitting both destroyers several times, but then turned their attention to pursuing the Spanish cruisers. The two damaged destroyers put on speed, pursued only by the armed yacht
USS Gloucester
, a ship less well armed than the destroyers, but larger, faster, and undamaged. Gloucester hit both destroyers repeatedly. Too badly damaged to continue, Plutón ran herself aground at 1045 on the beach just west of Cabanas Bay, a total loss. Those of her crew who got ashore had to beware of Cuban insurgents, who began shooting Spanish sailors they found along the shore. Other survivors were taken off by U.S. sailors who brought small boats alongside her wreck.
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
of the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba
Battle of Santiago de Cuba
The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, fought between Spain and the United States on 3 July 1898, was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Navy's Caribbean Squadron.-Spanish Fleet:...
during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
.
Technical characteristics
Plutón was built in the United Kingdom. Her keel was laid by Thomson on 12 February 1897; the company changed its name to Clydebank Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. in April 1897 and completed her under this name on 4 November 1897. She had three funnels. In the parlance of the day, she was a "torpedo boat destroyer", designed to protect larger ships against torpedo boatTorpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
attack, but also carrying torpedoes with which to attack larger ships herself.
Operational history
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
grew in early 1898, Plutón was part of the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
's 1st Squadron, commanded by Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete
Pascual Cervera y Topete
Pascual Cervera y Topete served as an admiral of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron during the Spanish-American War, and prior to this served his country in a variety of military and political roles....
. The squadron was ordered to concentrate at São Vicente
São Vicente, Cape Verde
São Vicente , also Son Visent or Son Sent in Cape Verdean Creole, is one of the Barlavento islands of Cape Verde. It is located between the islands of Santo Antão and Santa Luzia, with the Canal de São Vicente separating it from Santo Antão.- Geography :The island is roughly rectangular in shape...
in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
's Cape Verde Islands. Accordingly, Plutón, in company with Cervera's flagship, armored cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa
Spanish cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa
Infanta Maria Teresa was an Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.-Technical characteristics:...
, armored cruiser Cristobal Colon
Spanish cruiser Cristobal Colon
Cristóbal Colón was a Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.-Technical Characteristics:...
, and destroyers Furor
Spanish destroyer Furor
Furor was a Furor-class destroyer of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.-Technical characteristics:...
and Terror
Spanish destroyer Terror
Terror was a Furor-class destroyer of the Spanish Navy that fought at San Juan, Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War.-Technical Characteristics:...
, departed Cadiz on 8 April 1898 and arrived at São Vicente on 14 April 1898. The ships had experieced mechanical problems and burned an excessive amount of coal during the voyage. Soon, the squadron was reinforced by two more armored cruisers, Vizcaya
Spanish cruiser Vizcaya
Vizcaya, was an Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.-Technical characteristics:...
and Almirante Oquendo
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo
Almirante Oquendo, was an Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.-Technical characteristics:...
.
The Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
began while Plutón was at São Vicente. Ordered by neutral Portugal in accordance with international law to leave São Vicente within 24 hours of the declaration of war, Plutón and the rest of Cervera's squadron departed on 29 April 1898, bound for San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. Because of continuing engine trouble and low coal supplies, Plutón and her fellow destroyers were towed part of the way. Cervera's ships reached French-owned Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in the Lesser Antilles
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...
on 10 May 1898. While Plutón and the armored cruisers loitered in international waters, Furor and Terror went into Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France is the capital of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Exports include sugar, rum, tinned fruit, and cacao.-Geography:...
to ask for coal. France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
was neutral and would not supply coal, so the Spanish squadron—minus Terror, which stayed behind at Fort-de-France with engine trouble—departed on 12 May 1898 for Dutch-owned Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, where Cervera expected to meet a collier. Cervera arrived at Willemstad
Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles
Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Formerly the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 2010, it has an estimated population of 140,000. The historic centre of...
on 14 May, but the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
also was neutral, and strictly enforced its neutrality by allowing only Vizcaya and Infanta Maria Teresa to enter port and permitting them to load only 600 tons of coal. On 15 May, Cervera's ships departed, no longer bound for San Juan, which by now was under a U.S. Navy blockade, but for as-yet unblockaded Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
on the southeastern coast of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, arriving there on 19 May 1898. Cervera hoped to refit his ships there before he could be trapped. His squadron was still in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba when an American squadron arrived on 27 May 1898 and began a blockade which would drag on for 37 days.
Some action occurred during the blockade. On 3 June 1898, the U.S. Navy steamed the collier USS Merrimac
USS Merrimac (1898)
USS Merrimac was a steamship in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War.Merrimac was built by Swan & Hunter shipyard as SS Solveig in Wallsend, England, in November 1894. She was purchased by the US Navy in April 1898. Rear Admiral William T...
into the entrance channel to the harbor, hoping to scuttle her so as to block the channel and trap the Spanish ships inside. Spanish shore batteries already had disabled Merrimac when she drifted up the channel to a point where the Spanish ships could fire on her as well. Plutón, Vizacaya, and unprotected cruiser Reina Mercedes
Spanish cruiser Reina Mercedes
Reina Mercedes, was an Alfonso XII-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy.During the Spanish-American War, Reina Mercedes was captured by the United States and later salvaged and commissioned into the U.S. Navy. For information about her characteristics and operational history in U.S...
all opened fire, and Merrimac quickly sank in a position that did not block the entrance. Apparently a torpedo from Plutón gave the coup de grâce
Coup de grâce
The expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to the killing of civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the consent of the sufferer...
to the Merrimac.
The blockade wore on, with Plutón and the others enduring occasional American naval bombardments of the harbor. Some of her men joined others from the fleet in a Naval Brigade to fight against a U.S. Army overland drive toward Santiago de Cuba.
By the beginning of July 1898, that drive threatened to capture Santiago de Cuba, and Cervera decided that his squadron's only hope was to try to escape into the open sea by running the blockade. The decision was made on 1 July 1898, with the break-out set for 3 July 1898. The crew of Plutón spent 2 July 1898 returning from Naval Brigade service and preparing for action. Plutón was to be the sixth and last ship in line during the escape, following the four armored cruisers and Furor; while Infanta Maria Teresa sacrificed herself by attacking the fastest American ship, the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn
USS Brooklyn
Three ships of the United States Navy have borne the name Brooklyn, after the New York City borough of Brooklyn.* The , was a wooden screw sloop commissioned in 1859 and a participant in the American Civil War....
, Plutón and the others were to avoid action, put on all the speed they could, and run for the open sea.
At about 0845 hours on 3 July 1898, the Spanish ships got underway. The U.S. squadron sighted the Spanish ships in the channel at about 0935, and the Battle of Santiago de Cuba
Battle of Santiago de Cuba
The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, fought between Spain and the United States on 3 July 1898, was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Navy's Caribbean Squadron.-Spanish Fleet:...
began.
While the four armored cruisers turned to starboard to run westward, Plutón and Furor turned inside them and made their run closer to the coast. The blockading American battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s and armored cruisers opened fire on the two destroyers as they emerged from the channel, hitting both destroyers several times, but then turned their attention to pursuing the Spanish cruisers. The two damaged destroyers put on speed, pursued only by the armed yacht
Armed yacht
An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. Their speed and maneuverability made them useful as patrol vessels. In the United States Navy armed yachts were typically private yachts expropriated for government use in times of war. Armed yachts...
USS Gloucester
USS Gloucester (1891)
USS Gloucester was a gunboat in the United States Navy. Formerly J. P. Morgan's yacht Corsair, Gloucester was built in 1891 by Neafie & Levy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and acquired by the Navy on 23 April 1898...
, a ship less well armed than the destroyers, but larger, faster, and undamaged. Gloucester hit both destroyers repeatedly. Too badly damaged to continue, Plutón ran herself aground at 1045 on the beach just west of Cabanas Bay, a total loss. Those of her crew who got ashore had to beware of Cuban insurgents, who began shooting Spanish sailors they found along the shore. Other survivors were taken off by U.S. sailors who brought small boats alongside her wreck.