View source for Spanish cruiser Conde del Venadito

{{italic title prefixed|15}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:conde de venadito.jpg|300px]]
|Ship caption=Conde de Venadito in 1895
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=
|Ship flag=[[File:Flag of Spain (1785-1873 and 1875-1931).svg|48px|Armada Española Ensign]]
|Ship name= ''Conde de Venadito''
|Ship namesake=[[Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, 1st Count of Venadito|Count of Venadito]]
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=Naval shipyard [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=1883
|Ship launched=15 August 1888
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=1888 or 1889
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Stricken 1907
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Velasco class cruiser|''Velasco''-class]]
|Ship type=[[unprotected cruiser]]
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement={{convert|1,152|LT|abbr=on}}
|Ship tons burthen=
|Ship length={{convert|210|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft={{convert|13|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}} maximum
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power={{convert|1,500|hp|kW|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=1-shaft, horizontal compound, 4-cylinder boilers
|Ship sail plan=[[barque]]-rigged
|Ship speed={{convert|13|kn|mph}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=173 officers and enlisted
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=4 x {{convert|4.7|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns<br />4 × 6-pounder (57&nbsp;mm) guns<br />1 x machine gun<br />2 × {{convert|14|in|mm|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=none
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=Powered by {{convert|200|-|220|t|ST}} of coal (normal)
}}
|}
'''''Conde de Venadito''''' was a [[Velasco class cruiser|''Velasco''-class]] [[unprotected cruiser]] of the [[Spanish Navy]]. It was built at the naval shipyard at [[Cartagena, Spain]] in 1883, and was completed and launched five years later. In 1895, she unsucessfully attempted to sink the American merchant ship ''Allianca'' off [[Cape Maisi]], [[Cuba]] under the suspicion that she was smuggling arms to the Cuban insurgents.<ref name="Ches376" /> She stricken from the register in 1907 and she was finally sunk in 1936 as a target ship.<ref name="G429" />

== Technical characteristics ==
''Conde de Venadito'' was built at the naval shipyard at [[Cartagena, Spain]]. Her keel was laid in 1883, she was launched on 15 August 1888, and she was completed in 1888 or 1889. She displaced {{convert|1,152|LT|abbr=on}} of water and was {{convert|210|ft|m|abbr=on}} long with a {{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}} beam, while still maintaining a draft of {{convert|13|ft|8|in|abbr=on}}. She was powered by one-shaft, horizontal compound, four-cylinder boilers (normally containing {{convert|200|-|220|t|ST}} of coal), which helped her reach a speed of {{convert|13|kn|mph}}. She was armed with four 120&nbsp;mm (4.7&nbsp;in) guns, four six-pounder (57&nbsp;mm) guns, one machine gun and two 14&nbsp;inch torpedo tubes operated by a crew of 173 officers and enlisted men. She had one rather tall funnel. She had an iron hull and was rigged as a [[barque]].<ref>[http://escoben.blogspot.com/2004/02/el-crucero-galicia.html#prof ''Escobén'' magazine]{{es}}, 8 February 2004</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Encyclopaedia of Ships and Shipping | publisher=Shipping Encyclopaedia | author=Mason, Herbert B. | year=1908 | oclc=11857976}}</ref> She was stricken in 1907. Her hull was later sunk as a target ship in 1936.<ref name="G429">Gray, p. 429.</ref>

== Service history ==
She participated in the quadcentennial of Christopher Columbus's discovery of the "New World". The Royal family of the [[United Kingdom]] used the ship for the large reception. The Monday after the celebration (at 8 AM), when the ships of other nations were leaving, the ship with the Royal family passed the line of ships as they waved goodbye.<ref>{{cite book | title=Proceedings | author=Stanford, Edward | year=1892 | pages=855}}</ref>

=== ''Allianca'' incident ===
In March 1895, ''Conde de Venadito'' was involved in an incident with the American merchant ship ''Allianca'' off [[Cape Maisí]], [[Cuba]]. The Spanish ship attempted to stop ''Allianca'' for search on suspicion of [[Filibuster (military)|filibustering]], or smuggling arms to the insurgents in Cuba. The American ship failing to stop, the Spanish vessel fired several solid shots at the merchant ship during an unsuccessful chase of about 20&nbsp;miles.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wisan|first=Joseph|title=The Cuban Crisis as reflected in the New York Press|page=71|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Cuban_crisis_as_reflected_in_the_New.html?id=AcVnAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y|location=New York|publisher=Octagon Books|year=1965|accessdate=10 April 2015}}</ref> This touched off much sensational reporting in the American press and is credited by many with crystallizing anti-Spanish sentiment in the American public in the years preceding the [[Spanish-American War]].<ref name="Ches376">Chesneau & Eugene, p. 376.</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Eds. ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905.'' New York: Mayflower Books Inc., 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
*Gray, Randal, Ed. ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.

== External links ==
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-ag/c-venad.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Spanish Navy Ships: ''Conde del Venadito'' (Cruiser, 1888–1902)]

{{Velasco class cruiser}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conde Del Venadito}}
[[Category:Velasco-class cruisers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Spain]]
[[Category:1888 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1895]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]