700-01 "PELAYO" - SPANISH BATTLESHIP (FROM THE SPANISH - AMERICAN WAR)

Pelayo was a Spanish battleship from the late 19th and first half of the 20th century. The keel was laid for this unit in 1885, the launch took place in February 1887, and in 1888 the ship was commissioned. Its length at the time of launching was 105 meters and a width of 20.2 meters. The displacement reached about 9,800 tons, and the maximum speed - to about 16-17 knots. The armament consisted of, among others: 2 cannons of 320 mm caliber, 2 cannons of 280 mm and 12 cannons of 120 mm. Pelayo was built in connection with the desire of the Spanish admiralty at the end of the 19th century to significantly modernize the Spanish navy. Due to the problems that would be generated by the construction of such a large ship in Spanish shipyards, its design and construction was commissioned to the French shipyard Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee in the city of La Seyne-sur-Mer in Provence, in the south of France. The unit was basically based on the design of the French Marceau-class battleships. When it entered service, Pelayo was the largest and one of the most modern ships in the Spanish Navy. In the course of his service, he made many courteous voyages and represented the Spanish flag on many sea venues. Interestingly, however, during the Spanish-American War in 1898, he did not take an active part in the fighting. The battleship only took part in the battle during the so-called Second Rift War in the early twentieth century. In the years 1922-1923, the unit was disarmed, and in 1925 it was scrapped.