Reina Victoria Eugenia-class battleship
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Reina Victoria Eugenia |
| Preceded by: | España class |
| Succeeded by: | None |
| Planned: | 3 |
| Cancelled: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 21,000 t (21,000 long tons) |
| Propulsion: | 4 × steam turbines |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h) |
| Armament: |
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The Reina Victoria Eugenia class was a class of three battleships of the Spanish Navy authorized as the Plan de la Segunda Escuadra under the Navy Law of 1913. The class, as well as the lead ship, were named for King Alfonso XIII's English queen consort, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. The other two ships were classified as "B" and "C". It was supposed to be designed by Vickers-Armstrongs, and built by John Brown. The ships were never built due to Britain's involvement in World War I, which halted all foreign projects being constructed in British yards.
Following disastrous losses in the Spanish–American War of 1898, Spain lacked the money to rebuild its navy, so it was not until the Navy Law of 7 January 1908 that a new program authorizing three new battleships, the España class (España, Alfonso XIII, and Jaime I), along with other ships, was passed. The delay enabled Spain to take advantage of experience gained by Britain with the world's first commissioned dreadnought, HMS Dreadnought, and by the United States with its first dreadnought, USS South Carolina. As Spain was incapable of building the España class herself due to a lack of resources, Armstrongs were contracted for the design and John Brown for the construction of the shipyard and ships themselves.
A second Navy Law was passed in 1912 named the Plan de la Segunda Escuadra (Second Squadron Plan). It called for, among several other ships, three dreadnoughts to supplement the España class. These dreadnoughts were named the Reina Victoria Eugenia class. They were to be in laid down in 1914 and 1915 and completed around 1920.
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