Source:ABC

After sinking in Santiago de Cuba, she was refloated by the US as a “trophy” and served in World War II.

There was a warship that served in the Spanish Navy and the US Navy. First, with Spain during the Disaster of 98 and, after its sinking and refloating, to the same United States that began to glimpse in Cuba their golden age. It was the cruiser Reina Mercedes, born to honor the Queen, wife of Alfonso XII, and that fought with courage during the Cuban War and with a destiny to fulfill no less than in World War II.

“Few ships have been able to symbolize the confrontation of two nations and, at the same time, their reunion and reconciliation. In the history of both navies, this cruiser shines with special intensity, her actions in the Cuban war, as well as her shadow in the Cold War could have changed the current panorama forever”, Javier Yuste (Gernika-Lumo, 1980) tells us in his book “Reina Mercedes, from the Spanish Navy to the US Navy” (Nowtilus Editions, Tombooktu Historia).

The 3,090 tons of this warring surface of 1,725 ​​square meters began her trip on September 12, 1887, with her launch at the Arsenal Naval of Cartagena. She was thus part of the new fleet destined to strengthen the Navy and the Army in overseas possessions, within the “Reina Cristina” Class. Her first mission took place between October and November 1893 when it transported 10,000 mauser rifles and cartridges from the ports of Northern Germany. The destination was Melilla.

February 23, 1895, the tension in Cuba started with the famous “Grito de Baire” when in the eastern part of the island 35 villages rose up against Spain. “The Government ordered that a large number of ships set sail immediately to the Antilles. Among them is the ‘Conde de Venadito’, who should be followed by the ‘Reina Mercedes’ and the ‘Marqués de Molins’. The torpedo boat “Philippines” is ordered to be repurposed with different artillery”, reported “El Correo Militar”, one of the sources that the author of the book has used to nourish his documentation.

February 15, 1898, the sinking of the American ship “Maine” that “blows up in the port of Havana, as if someone had been looking for that for a long time”. The United States enters the war, and will finally decide the balance towards the independence of Cuba, an island that they would like to have under their influence.

“Faced with the imminent and definitive clash with the United States, the Kingdom of Spain agrees that the squad will not be dispersed, especially the units of greater size and military value. Spain reconsiders a better defense of the complex Cuban coastline, but leaves the ‘Reina Mercedes’ out of this fleet, due to the state of its boilers, so that her immediate destination is Santiago de Cuba, where she will be more useful. There, with her artillery and the landing column, she will serve as an auxiliary, which would give a little more strength to the diminished defense of the city”, says Carlos Yuste in the military history book that explains in detail positions, armaments, and tactics used in the defense of the bay of Santiago de Cuba.

The US Navy already had the “Reina Mercedes” in its sights. Her crew tried to scuttle her on July 3, 1898 with the purpose of blocking the access channel after the defeat of Admiral Cervera’s squadron. She was also subjected to the bombardment from the ships “Texas” and “Massachusetts”. The plan did not work out and the current led her to sink close to the beach.

“At that time, the Empire of Japan was the only country that had an enemy ship captured and serving under its flag, and the United States wanted not to match that, but to have enough even ‘to give away’. They wanted trophies. In the end, due to bureaucratic laziness, stupidity, and other elements or unknowns in the equation, Cervera’s ships were left in oblivion, and money was only allocated to recover the ‘Reina Mercedes’, whose rescue cost more than the value that he ended up being assigned “ Javier Yuste explains to ABC.

“The ‘Reina Mercedes’ came, -without being a captured ship, therefore impossible to be considered a trophy-, to be the symbol of the victory of the USA over Spain and the citizens themselves could see and admire her, especially after the ‘Maria Teresa’, the insignia ship, had an end deserving a court martial”. On January 1, 1899, she was refloated, arriving on August 25, 1900, at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (Kittery, Maine).

Under American flag

And under the American flag? What was her destiny? “This ship, with many others, would serve as barracks, although she was also intended to be used as a training ship after dismantling the engines. Then they realized that its design made it impossible to train cadets in sailing. Continuing with her trophy aura, she ended up in Annapolis, where she served for more than forty years with roles that made her very special. In addition to being the residence of the base commander, she served as barracks and a cadet prison, as well  a courtroom, before ending being a club and a museum where the Spanish ambassador to the US, Don José María de Areilza, tried to amend the ‘carelessness’ or ‘forgetfulness’ about the war of 1898, in addition to negotiating the return of the ship to Spain.”

Eisenhower came to fear for the settlement of the Spanish claim. The return of the “Reina Mercedes” became a claim from the Franco’s regime. So much so that even “Dwight ‘Ike’ Eisenhower himself came to fear that the non-delivery of the ‘Reina Mercedes’ could become a stumbling block in the bilateral relations. It had not been long since the Second World War had ended and the fight against rampant communism was paramount.”

Could the bilateral agreement that was signed in 1953 and by which the bases of Rota and Morón are still shared be in danger? It was not so. “In the end, only the guard bell returned, but it was an almost unknown gesture that strengthened US-Spain bilateral relations.”

The cruiser “USS Reina Mercedes” was permanently decommissioned on November 6, 1957, after being acquired by the Boston Metals Co. of Baltimore for scrapping.  This is the common story of two navies that are today great allies.