The Bustamante class was a class of three destroyers of the Spanish Navy. They were built in Spain to a British design completing between 1914 and 1916. They served until 1930–1932. The Bustamante class saw little service, spent mostly in a training squadron and patrolling the coasts of Spain. Compared to contemporary foreign designs, the Bustamante class was considered outclassed, with poor armament and a lack of speed.
Design and description In 1908, the Spanish Cortes passed a Naval Law that reorganised Spain's naval dockyards to make them more efficient and allowing a modern navy to be built. The law also authorised a large shipbuilding construction programme, with three battleships, three destroyers, 24 torpedo boats and 4 gunboats to be completed by 1914. While the ships were to be built in Spain's newly refurbished shipyards, most of the ships would be of foreign design.Gardiner and Gray 1985, pp. 375–376. The three destroyers were built by Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN), the consortium set up to refurbish and manage the Spanish shipyards, at Cartagena to a British design (either by Vickers or John BrownPurnell's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Modern Weapons and Warfare, p. 484. — both companies were part of the SECN consortium.).Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 380.
The new destroyers were long, with a beam of , a draft of and displaced . They were powered by steam turbines, fed by Yarrow or Normand boilers and driving three propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at which gave a speed of . The vessels had a range of at . Two funnels were fitted. Armament consisted of five Vickers guns, two side-by-side on the ships' forecastle, one aft on the ships' centreline, and the remaining two guns on the ships' beam. Two sets of twin torpedo tubes were fitted.Parkes 1931, p. 424.
Construction and service The three destroyers — , and — were laid down between 1911 and 1913. Bustamante and Villaamil were launched in 1913 while Cadarso was launched in 1914. Bustamante was completed in 1914, with Villaamil and Cadarso completing in 1916. Owing to the cessation of material support from Great Britain during the First World War Cadarso was fitted with torpedo tubes instead of the planned 450 mm tubes. By the time they entered service, the Bustamante class were outclassed by contemporary foreign destroyers, being poorly armed and slow.
The ships carried out neutrality patrols around Spain's coasts during World War I (1914–1918). They all saw service in the Rif War of 1921–1926 and otherwise spent their time in the Training Squadron, which served as a type of home squadron in Spanish waters. They were decommissioned in the early 1930s, with Cadarso being scrapped in 1930, Bustamante in 1931, and Villaamil in 1932.
Bustamante-class ships SOURCES
After the Second Spanish Republic replaced the Kingdom of Spain in April 1931, Bustamante and Villaamil were part of the Spanish Republican Navy late in their service lives.
Ship name Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN), Cartagena, Spain 25 August 1911 3 January 1913 23 March 1914 Scrapped 1931 25 November 1912 10 December 1913 16 August 1916 Late 1932 Scrapped 1932 1930 Scrapped 1930
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