3-082-436 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Spanish war-ship "Reina Regente," reported lost near the Straits of Gibraltar, 1895. 'Confirmation was received on March 19 of the loss of the Spanish cruiser Reina Regente, concerning which great anxiety had existed during the previous week. The Alfonso XII. reported at Cadiz that she had found the Reina Regente submerged at the Bajo Aceitunos...Not much more than a foot of her masts could be seen above the water. This news has cast a gloom over the whole of Spain, and we must tender our sincere sympathy to the nation that has just experienced so terrible a disaster...Heavy storms have been prevailing along the Spanish coast, and the English steamer Mayfair reported that the Reina Regente did not seem to be in a condition to withstand the gale. She was proceeding from Tangier to Cadiz when the awful fatality occurred. [She] was built by Messrs. Thomson, at Clydebank, and launched in 1887. She was a sister ship of the Alfonso XIII. and Lepanto...These vessels are the only fully deck-protected unarmoured cruisers in the Spanish fleet, and thus form a special type of medium powder in the new navy, Her coal capacity was over 1000 tons. Her full complement was 430 officers and men'. From "Illustrated London News", 1895.