324:, where two battleships and three cruisers were in different stages of construction. He wrote: "While I'm not in a position to decipher the aims that this nation has set itself , I notice that in the last years, in an unexpected way, it devotes its attention and money to acquiring warships that represent the latest advances in naval engineering". Indeed, he didn't know that four years later his destiny would make a fatal appointment with those impressive warships, annihilating him, many of his sea-fellows, all their ships and the last remains of the Spanish Empire.
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After several gunshots that caused tremendous damage and many casualties, Capitán de Navio
Villaamil went up to the prow gun platform; when I was about to follow him, a grenade exploded there . I could only see a flood of blood coming down. Shortly after we went overboard, the ship, already on fire,
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He was always in disagreement with both the
Spanish Government's shaky war direction and Cervera's rather passive strategy. Instead, he advocated trying to offset the superiority of the American forces by scattering the fleet and taking the initiative through quick and dispersed daring actions; and
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coastline. He descended from a family of respected noblemen and landowners, but his father found himself almost completely ruined, and had to sell all his property, including the family ancestral home. It seems that this event produced a strong mixed feeling of both affection and anger about his
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The world cruise increased
Villamil's popularity even more. He published the story of the voyage in an excellent book in which he not only reported on the events of the cruise, but also on his thoughts on many things he found around the world. His comments on the comparison between British and
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Thus, Villaamil was left with no very specific responsibilities. He could have returned to Spain, but he chose to go forward with his fellows, even though he was totally aware of the disaster the ill-prepared fleet was headed for.
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In 1884, Villaamil was appointed Second
Officer in the Ministry of the Navy. As such, he took the initiative of studying and designing a new class of warship intended to fight the then-new torpedo boats.
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Villaamil was assigned to Great
Britain to supervise the works and study the operating procedures of the British naval dockyards, as well as the new Engineers corps. On January 19, 1887, the
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In one day the doubts about the ship's seaworthiness were answered forever, and her designer and commander had every reason to feel proud. As a consequence of the success of the
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In the end, on July 3 the whole
Spanish fleet came out through the narrow mouth of the bay, ship by ship, with no chances of surviving the incoming battle with the US fleet.
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During the following years, Villaamil and some other forward-thinking colleagues tried to make the
Spanish public aware of the critical deficiencies of the Navy.
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Spanish colonies are impressively meaningful and well-written. One cannot avoid a thrill when reading
Villaamil's reflections after visiting, in May 1894, the
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Once he reached his conclusions on the subject, he obtained the agreement of the
Minister of the Navy, Manuel Pezuela, and selected the British shipyards of
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Meanwhile, a totally unrealistic feeling of unbeatable naval power spread over Spain, and the
Government decided that a whole fleet, commanded by Admiral
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Villaamil, Fernando. "Viaje de circunnavegaciĂłn de la corbeta Nautilus". Madrid: Sucesores de Ribadeneyra, 1895. Reedit. Madrid: Editorial Naval, 1989
178:, with Villaamil in command. Twenty-four hours later, she reached the Spanish coast, making 18 knots (33 km/h) through a stormy Bay of Biscay.
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Villaamil was a strong advocate of oceanic sailing as the best training for the young Navy officers and in 1892, being appointed commander of the
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Then, events rushed ahead: tension with the United States was rising quickly, and on February 16, 1898—the day following the explosion of the
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he took advantage of the celebrations of the fourth centenary of America's discovery to get approval for an instruction
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and eventually, after sailing forty thousand miles, came back to Spain on a shining Sunday, July 16, 1894, in
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Here the sailors suddenly realized that an approaching launch hoisted the royal pennant. It was the
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Therefore, Villaamil had to resign himself unwillingly to be shut with all the fleet in the bay of
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On the 24 the ship, which had reached 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h) in the trials, weighed anchor in
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on March 13, and on April 18 they gathered with Admiral Cervera's fleet in the
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Fernando Villaamil funeral service in Madrid; July 22, 1898 (in Spanish)
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to New York with his destroyers, but his proposals were not accepted.
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native region in Fernando, which would last for the rest of his life.
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Babcock & Wilcox, ltd. at the University Press, 1937, page 263
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Spanish military personnel killed in the Spanish–American War
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Villaamil was killed on board one of his destroyers, the
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sunk with the lifeless body of Don Fernando Villaamil.
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Fernando Villaamil: Una vida entre la mar y el dolor
78:), in the north of Spain, less than a mile from the
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439:A short history of naval and marine engineering.
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36: and the second or maternal family name is
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70:Fernando Villaamil was born in Serantes, near
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50:officer best known being the inventor of the
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519:. Madrid: Asamblea Amistosa Literaria, 1988
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46:(November 23, 1845 – July 3, 1898) was a
552:Detailed biography of Fernando Villaamil
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54:and for his death in action during the
479:"Castropol a Fernando Villaamil" 1912.
357:Villaamil and his First Division left
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468:Capitán de NavĂo Fernando Villaamil
515:Serrano Monteavaro, Miguel Angel.
44:Fernando Villaamil Fernández-Cueto
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534:. GijĂłn: Llibros del Pexe, 1995.
512:. Madrid: Editora Nacional, 1944.
368:A month later, on April 24, the
503:Castropol a Fernando Villaamil
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615:Circumnavigators of the globe
565:"The American Navy Greyhound"
456:"The American Navy Greyhound"
91:Colegio Naval de San Fernando
20:Formal photo portrait, c.1897
303:and her son, the child King
189:Around the world aboard the
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200:Fernando Villaamil and the
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260:On November 30, 1892 the
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559:(subscription required)
251:cruise around the world
86:In 1861 he entered the
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532:El Capitán de la Reina
466:Lino LĂłpez-Cotarelo, "
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26:Spanish name
585:1898 deaths
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255:Great Capes
108:Philippines
66:The origins
58:during the
574:Categories
288:, went to
183:Destructor
164:Destructor
140:Destructor
128:Destructor
286:Cape Horn
237:Castropol
156:Clydebank
95:Esperanza
72:Castropol
52:destroyer
34:Villaamil
378:Antilles
309:Nautilus
262:Nautilus
247:Nautilus
244:corvette
214:Nautilus
202:Nautilus
191:Nautilus
172:Falmouth
76:Asturias
24:In this
486:Sources
406:The end
30:surname
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345:Havana
311:crew.
266:Ferrol
204:, 1894
120:Ferrol
426:Notes
413:Furor
374:Spain
359:Cadiz
340:Maine
318:Cramp
264:left
225:Furor
154:, in
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536:ISBN
521:ISBN
493:ISBN
338:USS
282:Cook
280:and
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