Spanish ship Europa

Europa was a late 18th-century third-rate ship of the line of the Spanish Navy. She was launched in 1789 and served in the Armada Real for 11 years before being abandoned as a wreck in Manila Harbor in 1801.[1][2]

History
Spain
Name: Europa
Operator: Spanish navy
Builder: Reales Astilleros de Esteiro shipyards
Laid down: 1789
Launched: 19 October 1789
In service: 1789-1801
Fate: Abandoned as a wreck in 1801
General characteristics
Class and type: Third-rate ship of the line
Type: Ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1640 tons
Length: 190 ft
Beam: 52 ft
Depth: 25 ft
Decks: Three
Propulsion: Sail
Armament:
  • 28 x 24-pounder cannon
  • 30 x 18-pounder cannon
  • 16 x 8-pounder cannon

History

Europa was laid down at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro shipyards in Ferrol, Spain in 1789.[3][1] She was designed by Spanish naval architect José Romero y Fernández de Landa as a third-rate, two decked seventy-four gun ship of the line.[3] Following her completion, Europa joined the Spanish European Fleet. After several years of service, Europa was reassigned to service in the Pacific, and so she departed Spain for Concepcion, Chile, arriving in February 1796. She departed Concepcion for Manila in the Spanish Philippines on 10 October 1796 accompanied by her fellow third-rates Montañes and San Pedro along with two 34-gun frigates, Pilar and Fama.[4]

Pacific service

Following her arrival in Manila, Europa her squadron operated out of the port city during the French Revolutionary Wars and the concurrent Anglo-Spanish War.[5] In April 1797 the ships of the squadron were badly damaged by a typhoon, forcing the Spanish to dock and de-mast the ships for extensive repairs at Cavite.[6] A British force under the command of Edward Cooke raided Manila in January 1798, and found Europa to be one of the Spanish ships undergoing repairs there.[6][7]

In January 1799 Europa, Montañes, and two Spanish frigates departed Manila under the command of Ignacio Maria de Álava y Sáenz de Navarrete. de Navarrete sailed the fleet to Southern China, where he intended to intercept Britain's annual - and extremely valuable - convoy of merchants returning to Europe from Canton. The Spanish ships arrived at the mouth of the Pearl River near Macau in late January, where they were joined by two french frigates. On 27 January the allied fleet fought an inconclusive engagement against a force of British warships sent to escort the convoy.[8] During the battle, the larger Europa attempted to pursue the lighter HMS Intrepid, but damage to Montañes forced de Navarrete to break off his attack and order a withdraw to Manila.[8] Europa and Fama were again sent to Macau in May 1799, but failed to intercept any British ships.[8]

After her return to Manila, Europa fell into disrepair and was no longer fit for service. By 1801, she was reportedly a rotting wreck in Manila harbor.[2][3]

References
  • Parkinson, C. Northcote (1954). War in the Eastern Seas, 1793 – 1815. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
  • Aguado, Juan-Garcia, Jose M (1999). Un Ingeniero de Marina en el s. XVIII. A Coruna. University de Coruna Press.

Citations
  1. Schomberg, Isaac (1802). Naval Chronology, Or an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime Events from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace 1802: With an Appendix.
  2. Aguado 1999, p. 321
  3. Harrison, Simon. "Spanish Third Rate ship of the line 'Europa' (1789)". threedecks.org. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  4. Aguado 1999, p. 320
  5. Parkinson 1954, p. 136
  6. Parkinson 1954, p. 139.
  7. Duncan, Archibald (1805). The British trident; or, Register of naval actions, from ... the Spanish armada to the present time. p. 181. Spanish ship Europa 74 guns.
  8. Parkinson 1954, p. 157.
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