Spanish cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa
Infanta María Teresa, probably in 1895 at the opening ceremonies of the Kiel Canal in Germany
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.svg){kind=small} Spain
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| Name: | Infanta María Teresa |
| Namesake: | Princess Maria Theresa of Spain (1638–1683) |
| Builder: | Bilbao, Spain |
| Laid down: | 1889 |
| Launched: | 30 August 1890 |
| Completed: | 1893 |
| Fate: | Sunk 3 July 1898; captured and later refloated by the U.S. Navy, but lost in a storm while under tow. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruiser |
| Displacement: | 6,890 tons |
| Length: | 364 ft 0 in (110.95 m) |
| Beam: | 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m) |
| Draft: | 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m) maximum |
| Installed power: | 13,700 ihp (10,200 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft vertical triple expansion |
| Speed: | 20.2 knots (37.4 km/h; 23.2 mph) forced draft |
| Complement: | 484 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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| Notes: | 1,050 tons of coal (normal) |
Infanta María Teresa was the lead ship of her her class of armoured cruiser constructed for the Spanish Navy. The ship fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War.
Infanta María Teresa was built at Bilbao, northern Spain, to a design drawn up by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company of Jarrow, England. Her keel was laid in 1889, she was launched on 30 August 1890, and was completed in 1893. She had two funnels and was fast and comparatively well-armed. Her main armament was mounted on the centerline in single barbettes fore and aft. Her armor was poor: her 280 mm (11 in) guns had only lightly armored hoods, her 140 mm (6 in) guns were mounted in the open on the upper deck, her armor belt was thin and protected only two-thirds of her length, and she had a high, unprotected freeboard that took much damage during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. Like other nineteenth-century warships, she was heavily furnished and decorated with wood, which the Spanish failed to remove prior to combat and which would feed fires during the battle.
Infanta María Teresa was the flagship of Spanish Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete, commander of the Spanish Navy's 1st Squadron, when tensions with the United States were rising after the explosion and sinking of the US battleship Maine in the harbor at Havana, Cuba on 15 February 1898. The squadron concentrated at São Vicente in Portugal's Cape Verde Islands; departing Cadiz on 8 April 1898. Infanta María Teresa, the armored cruiser Cristóbal Colón, and three destroyers arrived at São Vicente on 14 April 1898, experiencing machinery problems and burning excessive amounts of coal during the voyage. As more ships arrived over the next few days, it was noted that the 140 mm guns aboard Infanta Maria Teresa had defective breech mechanisms and had been supplied with defective ammunition, and that the fleet had a shortage of stokers.
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