Spanish submarine B-5
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| History | |
|---|---|
.svg.png){kind=small} .svg.png){kind=small} Spain | |
| Name | B-5 |
| Builder | SECN, Cartagena, Spain |
| Laid down | 13 January 1921 |
| Launched | 4 April 1925 |
| Commissioned | 31 December 1925 |
| Identification | Pennant number B-5 |
| Fate | Missing mid-October 1936 |
| General characteristics (per Conway's 1906–1921)[1] | |
| Class & type | B-class submarine |
| Displacement |
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| Length | |
| Beam | 5.6 m (17 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 3.4 m (11 ft 3 in) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range | |
| Complement | 28 |
| Armament |
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| General characteristics (per Todoavante)[2]) | |
| Class & type | B-class submarine |
| Displacement |
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| Length | 64.18 m (210 ft 7 in) |
| Beam | 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 3.44 m (11 ft 3 in) (mean) |
| Depth | 5.1 m (16 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range | |
| Test depth | 60 m (197 ft) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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B-5 was a Spanish Navy B-class submarine in commissioned in 1925. She served initially under the Kingdom of Spain, then was a unit of the Spanish Republican Navy under the Second Spanish Republic. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republican faction loyal to the government of the Second Spanish Republic. She was lost in 1936.
Design
Construction and commissioning
On 15 February 1915, the Spanish Cortes Generales passed the Miranda Law, a naval construction program which called for a Spanish Navy force that included 28 submarines.[1][2] Shortages during World War I (1914–1918) and budgetary limitations led to delays in the program, and none of the B-class submarines entered service until the 1920s.[2] The Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN) built all six of the submarines at Cartagena, Spain.[2] Originally, the Spanish Navy planned to name them A-4 through A-9.[1]
B-5 was the fifth submarine of the class. SECN laid her keel on 13 January 1921[2] and launched her on 4 April 1925.[2] She was commissioned on 31 December 1925.[2]
Service history
Kingdom of Spain, 1925–1931
In August and September 1928, B-5, her sister ships B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, and B-6, and the submarines C-1 and C-2 carried out maneuvers in the Cantabrian Sea along the northern coast of Spain.[3] In October and November 1928, all eight of the submarines conducted maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea under the overall command of Capitán de navío (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) Mateo García de los Reyes, a future contralmirante (counter admiral) and minister of the navy. During the maneuvers, García de los Reyes's flagship, the troopship Almirante Lobo, arrived at Palma de Mallorca on Mallorca in the Balearic Islands at midnight on 2 November 1928, and the eight submarines, as well as the submarine Isaac Peral, subsequently anchored there as well. With Isaac Peral as its flagship, the submarine squadron called at Barcelona from 11 November until the morning of 20 November 1928 for a crew rest period.[2]
In May 1929, all six B-class submarines as well as C-1, C-2, and their sister ship C-3 attended the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, arriving in Barcelona a few days before the exposition officially opened on 19 May. They remained at Barcelona until the last week of May.[2] B-5 took part in the annual squadron maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea between mid-September and mid-October 1929, arriving in Barcelona in mid-October 1929 for a crew rest period.[2] After stopping at Lisbon, Portugal, to refuel, B-2, B-3, B-4, and B-5 arrived at Vigo on the morning of 7 November 1929.[3]
Luis Carrero Blanco was the commanding officer of B-5 from January 1930 to October 1931.[2] He later rose to the rank of almirante (admiral) and went on to serve as Prime Minister of Spain from June to December 1973.
Second Spanish Republic, 1931–1936
On 14 April 1931, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed, replacing the Kingdom of Spain. The Spanish Navy came under the republic's control as the Spanish Republican Navy. In January 1932, President of the Republic Niceto Alcalá Zamora visited Alicante aboard the destroyer Alcalá Galiano, and B-5 and B-6 accompanied him on the visit.[2]
From June 1933 until 6 July 1933, B-5 participated in maneuvers along with B-6, C-2, C-3, the submarines C-4, C-5, and C-6, four light cruisers, nine destroyers, and several smaller and auxiliary vessels. B-5 also took part in the spring maneuvers of 1934 in the Mediterranean Sea, then participated in a naval review off Alcudia presided over by Zamora.[2] An order of the Ministry of the Navy of 15 August 1934 mandated that the crew size of all six B-class submarines increase from 28 to 34 men.[2]
In April and May 1936, B-5 was among several submarines that took part in maneuvers in the Canary Islands. After they concluded, B-5 returned to Cartagena and entered the shipyard there for repairs.[2]
Spanish Civil War
On 17 July 1936, the Spanish Civil War began, with Nationalist forces under Francisco Franco opposing Republican forces which remained loyal to the Second Spanish Republic. At the time, B-5 was part of the submarine flotilla based at Cartagena, along with B-6 and all six C-class submarines. She still was under repair in the shipyard at Cartagena. Her executive officer, suspected of Nationalist sympathies, was arrested, and later was killed aboard the prison ship España No. 3 on 15 August 1936.[2]
Meanwhile, upon completion of her repairs, B-5 got underway from Cartagena on 24 July 1936 bound for Málaga. From Málaga, she carried out patrols in the Strait of Gibraltar. Durting September and October 1936, B-5, C-2, and five destroyers patrolled the Strait of Gibraltar and in the Mediterranean Sea.[2]
In mid-October 1936, B-5 departed Málaga and was never seen or heard from again, disappearing somewhere off Estepona with her entire crew of 37. The cause of her loss remains unknown.[2] One hypothesis is that a Nationalist seaplane bombed and sank B-5 while she was onthe surface sometime between 12 and 15 October 1936.[2] B-5′s commanding officer was under surveillance by her ship's political committee for suspected Nationalist sympathies, and another possibility is that he commmitted an act of sabotage that resulted in her loss.[2]
References
Citations
Bibliography
- ABC (newspaper, in Spanish)
- Aguilera, Alfredo; Elías, Vicente (1980). Buques de guerra españoles, 1885-1971 [Spanish Warships, 1885–1971] (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial San Martín.
- Cervera Pery, José (1988). La guerra naval española (1936-39) [The Spanish Naval War (1936–39)] (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial San Martín.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0851772455.
- La Vanguardia newspaper (in Spanish)
- González, Marcelino (2009). 50 Barcos españoles [50 Spanish Ships] (in Spanish). Gijón, Spain: Fundación Alvargonzález.
- González, Marcelino (2012). Otros 50 Barcos españoles [Another 50 Spanish Ships] (in Spanish). Gijón, Spain: Fundación Alvargonzález.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1936 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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- B-class submarines of the Spanish Navy
- Ships built in Cartagena, Spain
- 1925 ships
- Spanish Republican Navy
- Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)
- Mediterranean naval operations of the Spanish Civil War
- Spanish Civil War ships
- Maritime incidents in 1936
- Missing submarines
- Submarines lost with all hands
- Shipwrecks of the Spanish Civil War
- Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea