Spanish battleship Alfonso XIII

Illustration of España (formerly Alfonso XIII) in 1937
History
Spain
Name:	Alfonso XIII (renamed España in 1931)
Namesake:	King Alfonso XIII of Spain; after 1931, the country of Spain
Builder:	SECN, Naval Dockyard, El Ferrol, Spain
Laid down:	23 February 1910
Launched:	7 May 1913
Completed:	16 August 1915
Fate:	Sunk by mine 30 April 1937
General characteristics
Class and type:	España-class battleship
Displacement:	Normal: 15,700 t (15,500 long tons) Full Load: 16,450 t (16,190 long tons)
Length:	140 m (460 ft) o/a
Beam:	24 m (79 ft)
Draft:	7.8 m (26 ft)
Propulsion:	12 × Yarrow coal-fired boilers 4 × turbines 4 × shafts
Speed:	19.5 knots (36.1 km/h)
Range:	5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement:	854
Armament:	8 × 305 mm (12 in)/50 cal guns 20 × 102 mm (4 in) guns 4 × 3-pounder guns 2 × machine guns
Armor:	Belt armor: 203 mm (8 in) Deck: 38 mm (1 in) Turrets: 203 mm Conning tower: 254 mm (10 in)

Spain

Alfonso XIII was a Spanish dreadnought battleship, the second member of the España class. She had two sister ships, España and Jaime I. Alfonso XIII was built by the SECN shipyard; she was laid down in February 1910, launched in May 1913, and completed in August 1915. Named after King Alfonso XIII of Spain, she was renamed España in 1931 after the king was exiled following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic. The new name was the namesake of her earlier sister ship, the España that served in the Spanish fleet from 1913 to 1923.

Alfonso XIII served in the Spanish fleet from 1915 to 1937. Spain remained neutral during World War I, and so Alfonso XIII and her sisters were the only European dreadnoughts to avoid the war. She and her sisters participated in the Rif War, where they provided gunfire support to Spanish Army forces. The ship was seized by General Francisco Franco at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. While steaming off Santander on 30 April 1937, she struck a mine and sank; most of her crew was taken off by the destroyer Velasco.