Blas de Lezo was a Spanish Navy light cruiser commissioned in 1925. She took part in the Rif War in 1925; supported part of the 1926 transatlantic flight of the flying boat Plus Ultra, piloted by Ramón Franco and Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz; and deployed to China during unrest there in 1927. She struck a rock and sank in 1932.
Characteristics The Blas de Lezo-class ships were ordered as "fast cruisers" inspired by the design of the British C-class light cruisers. They were slower than the C-class, however, which in service proved to be their main limitation as combat ships, and they were reclassified as light cruisers as a result.
The ships were long between perpendiculars and long overall. They had a beam of , a maximum draft of , and a height of . Their standard displacement was 4,780 tons, and they displaced 6,045 tons at full load.
The ships were armed with six Vickers guns in single mounts, two forward, two aft, one on either side amidships, as well as four anti-aircraft guns located along the sides between the funnels. In 1930, twelve torpedo tubes of in four triple mounts were installed.
The propulsion system, which consisted of four sets of Parsons turbines, six coal-fired Yarrow boilers, six oil-fired Yarrow boilers, generated and drove four propellers. The ships had a maximum speed of . The fuel capacity was 730 tons of fuel oil and 800 tons of coal, giving the ships a range of at an economical cruising speed of .
The ships were armored, with of belt armor, of deck armor, and a conning tower with of armor. Each ship had a crew of 320 men.
Construction and commissioning The Spanish Cortes Generales approved the construction of four "fast cruisers" on 17 February 1915. The first two became the ships, while the second pair became the ships of the class. Spanish budgetary problems and a shortage of raw materials during World War I (1914–1918) delayed construction of the ships.
Blas de Lezo was laid down in 1920 by the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN, English: Spanish Naval Construction Society) at Ferrol, Spain, with the name Méndez Núñez as the second ship of the Blas de Lezo class, and was launched on 3 May 1923. While she was fitting out, an order of May 1924 swapped her name with that of the first ship of the class, previously known as Blas de Lezo, so that the first ship's commissioning in 1924 could honor the centenary of Contralmirante (Counter Admiral) Casto Méndez Núñez.
Now named Blas de Lezo, the second ship carried out her first sea trials in early May 1924. She conducted tests of her steam turbines and auxiliary machinery in November 1924 and her final sea trials in February 1925. She was commissioned in 1925.
Service history 1925–1927
Blas de Lezo, her sister ship Méndez Núñez, and the destroyers and were at Ceuta on the coast of North Africa in mid-July 1925 when they departed for Ferrol, Spain. On 27 July 1925 the four ships arrived at Santander, where King Alfonso XIII received them. A French Navy squadron consisting of two battleships and two destroyers also arrived at Santander. The Spanish royal family and both light cruisers were on hand at Santander on 3 August 1925 when Alsedo and Velasco were presented with their battle ensigns, acquired by popular subscription. On 5 August 1925 the two light cruisers arrived at Málaga, and on 11 August they were back in Ferrol. After refuelling, they got underway on 13 August bound for the coast of Spanish Morocco, where Spanish forces had been fighting Rifians in the Rif War since 1921. They rendezvoused with the Training Squadron in the Bay of Gibraltar on the afternoon of 19 August 1925.
In September 1925, the Spanish Navy assembled two squadrons for a landing at Al Hoceima during the ongoing Rif War. The Training Squadron was one of them, and it gathered at Ceuta. Consisting of Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, Alsedo, Velasco, and the battleships and , the Training Squadron left Ceuta on 6 September and disembarked Spanish Army troops in an amphibious landing on Cebadilla Beach west of Al Hoceima (Spanish: Alhucemas) on 8 September. Blas de Lezo remained off the landing beach until 2 October 1925, when she headed for the Arsenal de La Carraca at San Fernando, Spain. She got underway from the arsenal on 23 October to return to military operations off Melilla, where she operated until departing for Ceuta on 25 November. In mid-December 1925 she was stationed at Melilla.
On 16 January 1926, Blas de Lezo got underway from Cádiz bound for the Cape Verde Islands, where she rendezvoused with Alsedo at Praia on 23 January to await the arrival of the Dornier Do J flying boat Plus Ultra, which Spanish Air Force Comandante (Commandant Ramón Franco and Capitán (Captain) Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz were piloting on a transatlantic flight from Spain to Argentina. Plus Ultra took off from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, on 22 January and, after a stop at Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, landed in the Cape Verde Islands. When the flight resumed, Blas de Lezo and Alsedo escorted the plane for part of its journey. Plus Ultra arrived at Buenos Aires on 26 January, and Blas de Lezo called at Recife, Brazil, from 1926. She then headed back to the Cape Verde Islands and then to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. From there, she got back underway on 23 February. She arrived at Cádiz on 6 April 1926 escorting the Argentine Navy protected cruiser Buenos Aires, a training ship which was transporting the four-man crew of Plus Ultra back to a hero's welcome in Spain.
On 20 May 1926 Blas de Lezo left Cartagena and conducted exercises off Mazarrón with Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Méndez Núñez, Velasco, and the destroyer . She put into port at Málaga on 21 May, then proceeded to Al Hoceima. In mid-June 1926, she arrived at Ferrol, where she spent the next two months under repair. On 26 August 1926, she left Ferrol to relieve Méndez Núñez in the Cantabrian Sea, then returned to Ferrol in October 1926.
In 1927, Blas de Lezo was assigned to an international squadron charged with protecting Spanish and other foreign citizens and property in China during unrest there. On 25 January 1927, she left Ferrol bound for Cádiz, where she arrived on 27 January to load supplies. She then made a stop at Ceuta, from which she departed on 28 January for her voyage to China. She headed east across the Mediterranean Sea, passed through the Suez Canal, crossed the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and East China Sea, and anchored in the Yangtze on 1 March 1927. After completing her operations in China, she got underway on 23 August, stopped at Chinwangtao to recover from an epidemic, then arrived in Japan for a courtesy visit. She left Japan on 8 October and called at Manila in the Philippines from . After stops at Singapore, Colombo, Aden, Port Said, and Mahón on Menorca in the Balearic Islands, she returned to Cartagena on 24 November 1927.
In October 1927, King Alfonso XIII signed a royal decree reorganizing the Spanish Navy. In the new organization, Blas de Lezo′s squadron was no longer called the Training Squadron, and Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, and two new light cruisers which were about to enter service, and , were assigned to it. In addition, the decree created a Cruiser Division — composed of Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, and the light cruiser — which was subordinated to the squadron.
1928–1929 Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, and Reina Victoria Eugenia departed Barcelona early on the morning of 1 March 1928 for a voyage to Almería and Málaga. The three light cruisers made a stop at Cádiz, then got back underway on 6 March and steamed north. Blas de Lezo parted company with the other two ships and moored at Lisbon, Portugal, on 7 March because one of her officers had fallen seriously ill. Méndez Núñez and Reina Victoria Eugenia arrived at Marín on 9 March, and Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, and all three light cruisers arrived at Vigo from Marín on 10 March. The five ships conducted gunnery exercises off Marín on . The Cruiser Division arrived at Ferrol in late March and at Vigo on 20 April 1928.
In the second week of May 1928, the three light cruisers arrived at Ferrol to have their bottoms cleaned and to undergo repairs. They departed Ferrol on 28 June 1928 headed for Gijón with Príncipe Alfonso, which received her battle ensign there. At San Sebastián on 8 July 1928, they received battle ensigns donated by the province of Gipuzkoa from Queen Victoria Eugenia, as did the Spanish Navy's new training ship, the barquentine . On 12 July 1928, Blas de Lezo arrived at Bilbao.
In mid-August 1928 the Cruiser Division arrived at Marín, where it rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron (Alfonso XIII, Jamie I, the seaplane carrier , and four torpedo boats) for maneuvers. The squadron refueled at Vigo. In September 1928 the squadron arrived in the Mediterranean for general maneuvers, after which Blas de Lezo and Méndez Núñez anchored at Almería on 29 September. During October and November 1928, the squadron conducted general maneuvers in the Balearic Islands and along the Mediterranean coast of Spain, anchoring on 27 October at Palma de Mallorca on Mallorca in the Balearic Islands and at Pollença on Mallorca, from which it proceeded to Barcelona, arriving there on 1928. Ships of the squadron began to leave Barcelona on 20 November 1928, and the Cruiser Division arrived ar Ferrol in late November 1928.
On 5 March 1929, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, Alsedo, Lazaga, and Velasco moored at Cádiz. On the morning of 13 March Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, and Príncipe Alfonso got underway from Vigo for exercises on the open ocean off Galicia during March and April 1929, including numerous gunnery exercises and tactical maneuvers. On 17 May 1929, a Spanish Navy squadron made up of Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, Príncipe Alfonso, Alsedo, Lazaga, Velasco, and the destroyer arrived at Barcelona for the opening of the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition on 19 May. The squadron remained at Barcelona during the visit there of King Alfonso XIII. The two battleships and three cruisers left Barcelona and anchored at Alcudia on 17 June, later stopping at Palma de Mallorca.
After a stop at Valencia in early July 1929, the same squadron, joined by the Almirante Cervera, arrived at Ferrol on 9 July 1929. After refueling, the four light cruisers departed Ferrol in mid-July 1929 and proceeded to Santander, where King Alfonso XIII and Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, embarked on Príncipe Alfonso on 20 August 1929. The squadron then put to sea for joint maneuvers.
During the second week of September 1929, Blas e Lezo and Méndez Núñez left Ferrol bound for Cartagena to rendezvous with the squadron for general maneuvers in the Balearic Islands between 20 September and 1 October 1929 in which Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Dédalo, Blas de Lezo, Almirante Cervera, Méndez Núñez, Príncipe Alfonso, Alsedo, Lazaga, Sánchez Barcáiztegui, Velasco, the protected cruiser , seven torpedo boats, the submarine division, and other smaller and auxiliary vessels took part. The squadron began to leave Cartagena on the morning of 17 September 1929. Part of the squadron anchored in Barcelona to rest the crews, refuel, and make repairs. A naval review presided over by King Alfonso XIII took place on 15 October. After the completion of the maneuvers, Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, and the four destroyers returned to Ferrol on 25 October 1929. In December 1929, the Cruiser Division, now composed of Blas de Lezo, Admiral Cervera, and Méndez Núñez, gathered at Cartagena.
1930–1932
In March 1930, the squadron — made up of Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Blas de Lezo, Admiral Cervera, Méndez Núñez, Prince Alfonso, the light cruiser , and a squadron of destroyers — rendezvoused at Marín. It carried out naval exercises and then returned to Ferrol.