Numancia

Type

Ironclad

Period

19th Century

Nation

Spain

Overview: Numancia was a Spanish Navy armored frigate (broadside ironclad) built in France and in commission from 1864 to 1912, notable as the first ironclad warship to circumnavigate the globe. She later served the navy of the First Spanish Republic and the rebel Canton of Cartagena during the Cantonal Revolution. Specifications: She measured 95.6 m at the waterline with a 17.3 m beam and 7.7 m draft, displacing 7,305 metric tons, carried a wrought-iron belt of 100-130 mm, a ram bow, a three-masted ship rig, and a single-shaft compound steam engine fed by 8 boilers. Her armament evolved through several refits to include Armstrong and Hontoria guns up to 280 mm, giving modelers several plausible configuration options depending on the depicted year. Service History: Built at La Seyne, France and completed in December 1864, she deployed to the Pacific in 1866 for the Chincha Islands War, shelling Valparaíso and Callao, then returned home via a circumnavigation of the globe. In 1873 she served as flagship of the rebel Cantonal fleet at Cartagena, accidentally sinking the gunboat Fernando el Católico; she was later rebuilt as a coastal-defense ship in 1896-98, saw service in Moroccan waters including the 1909 Melilla campaign, and was the scene of a 1911 mutiny at Tangier before being struck in 1912 and lost under tow in 1916. Notable Facts: Numancia was one of Spain's first two broadside ironclads ordered in 1861 as part of an effort to rebuild the Armada's prestige after Trafalgar, with her sister-effort ship built domestically at Ferrol. Her circumnavigation was commemorated with the Latin motto "Enloricata navis quae primo terram circuivit," and a preserved plan/model and related relics are held at Spain's Museo Naval in Madrid. A period oil painting of the ship by Spanish marine artist Rafael Monleón y Torres survives and offers a useful visual reference for her rig and profile.