USS Reina Mercedes (IX-25)
The Reina Mercedes.
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Namesake: | Spanish Navy name retained; Queen Mercedes of Orléans (1860–1878) was the first wife of King Alfonso XII of Spain |
| Builder: | Naval shipyard Cartagena, Spain |
| Launched: | 12 September 1887 |
| Commissioned: | 17 July 1920 at Annapolis, Maryland |
| Decommissioned: | 6 November 1957 at Annapolis, Maryland |
| Struck: | 6 September 1957 |
| Homeport: | |
| Nickname(s): | "Fastest Ship in the Fleet" |
| Honours and awards: |
Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) at Naval Station Annapolis named in her honor |
| Captured: | 17 July 1898 in Cuba by U.S. Naval forces |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping |
| Notes: | Served in the Spanish Navy as an unprotected cruiser from 1887 to 1898 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Alfonso XIIclass |
| Type: |
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| Displacement: | 2,835 – 3,090 tons |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 43 ft 3 in (13.18 m) |
| Draught: | 21 ft 11 in (6.68 m) (mean) |
| Propulsion: | non-self-propelled in U.S. Navy service |
| Complement: | 91 |
| Armament: | none in U.S. Navy service |
| Armor: | none |
| Notes: | Disarmed after capture and salvage by U.S. Navy; recommissioned as a non-self-propelled ship. |
USS Reina Mercedes (IX-25) was an unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy which was captured in Cuba in 1898 by the U.S. Navy during the Spanish–American War. She was refurbished and used by the U.S. Navy as a non-self-propelled receiving ship at Newport, Rhode Island, and subsequently as a detention vessel and barracks ship for the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, until 1957.
For an article on the technical characteristics and operational history of Reina Mercedes as a Spanish cruiser, see Spanish cruiser Reina Mercedes.
During the Spanish–American War, the ship Reina Mercedes served as a key defensive element of the Spanish defenses against the American blockade of Santiago harbor with four of her six 6.3" Hontoria guns and lighter guns being the teeth of the Spanish land batteries and the ship itself being the first layer of naval defense at the inner entrance of the mouth of the harbor. After the Spanish fleet had come out and been destroyed in the Naval battle of Santiago the Spanish Navy sank Reina Mercedes as a blockship in the entrance channel of the harbor at Santiago de Cuba, on the southeast coast of Cuba. The United States captured Reina Mercedes on 17 July 1898 when the Spanish defenses at Santiago de Cuba surrendered. The U.S. Navy decided to salvage Reina Mercedes, and the Merritt-Chapman & Scott company was engaged to raise her. Work began 2 January 1899 and she was again afloat on 1 March 1899.
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