Cristóbal Colón de Carvajal, 17th Duke of Veragua

He entered as an applicant at the Escuela Naval Militar in 1943, as a component of the 348 Promotion of the General Corps. He was promoted to officer cadet in 1945, to conclude his training at the Escuela Naval on 15 December 1948, at which time he was delivered the office of alférez de navío. His first post was in the flagship of the Spanish Fleet, Canarias.

With his commission as an officer in 1948, Colón succeeded his late father as Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Admiral of the Indies and Adelantado of the Indies at the early age of 23.

After being Second Commander of the Tugboat Cíclope, he received the command of the patrolman Lanzón (V-18). When he was promoted to lieutenant of ship, he received the command of the coastguard Pegaso, and after completing the specialist course in Submarine Weapons, he was handed the command of the tugboat in functions of Patrolman RR-20.

A young Colón (right) as commander of the surveillance vessel "V-18" in Pasaia, 1950

He was promoted to Corvette captain in 1964 and appointed second commander of the destroyer Almirante Miranda, later moving to the Ministry of the Navy. By this time Colón had already become popular amongst the navy staff, and had built a good reputation.[5]

He was promoted to the rank of frigate captain in 1975, and by Decree Law on 17 December 1977, he was given command of the Fletcher-class destroyer Almirante Valdés (D-23) (former USS Converse (DD-509), one of the destroyers granted by the US)[6] which he held until 18 June 1979. During his time as frigate captain, he was awarded the Silver Medal of the Salvation Society of the Shipwrecked, for having rescued the seventeen members of the fishing crew of Onubenses, which sunk.

When he was promoted in 1980 to ship captain, he was given the command of the training ship of the Spanish Navy, the barquentine Juan Sebastian Elcano. As ship captain, he departed on 8 January 1981 from Cadiz with course to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Punta Arenas, Valparaíso, Callao, Balboa, crossed the Panama Canal and cruised to Pensacola, New York, Saint-Malo, Melilla, Livorno and arrived to the Bay of Cádiz 3 August of the same year.[7]

He was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1983, and continued with his duties within the Ministry of Defence and especially in the Institute of Naval History and Culture. In 1984 he was promoted to vice admiral, and went on to hold office in the Navy Staff.

The attack took place on Thursday 6 February 1986 at 10:20 a.m. His car, a brown Talbot 1800 driven by 55-year-old chauffeur Manuel Trillo, occupied by vice admiral Colón de Carvajal and his assistant, 45-year-old Antonio Rodríguez Toube, who was in the back seat of the car, was headed down Calle del Tambre from the corner with Balbina Valverde. The chauffeur had to reduce speed when reaching a narrow part of the road. According to witnesses, two young men "posted on both sides of the street, machine-gunned the vehicle in crossfire." Almost at the same time, one of the ETA members tossed a hand grenade inside the vehicle, while the other members of the commando continued firing from the opposite sidewalk.[8]

In spite of the bloodshed, commander Antonio Rodríguez Toube, Colón's personal assistant, was severely wounded but survived the attack almost miraculously.[9]

The funeral for the Duke of Veragua and driver Manuel Trillo was held the following morning, at the General Headquarters of the Navy, in Madrid. The remains of both victims were buried that afternoon.[10]