Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Spanish Ironclad Arapiles-- Part 2: A Side Incident of the Virginius Affair

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

LENGTH:  280 feet

BEAM:   52 feet 2 inches

DRAFT:    17 feet

COMPLEMENT:    537

ARMAMENT:

Two 9-inch rifled muzzle-loaders

Five 8-inch rifled muzzle-loaders

Ten 68-pounder smoothbore guns

This was a powerful ship which most likely could have taken on most any U.S. ship at the time.

During the Virginius Affair, a lighter was sunk that blocked the drydock gates, just in case.  Of course, by the time of the Spanish-American War, this was not the case.  The American Navy was way better than the Spanish one.

This Was a Wakeup Call for the Government and the U.S. Navy.  --Old B-Runner


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