Wikipedia

Spanish seaplane carrierDédalo

For other ships with the same name, seeSpanish ship Dédalo.

Dédalowas asteamshipthat was built in England in 1901 as thecargo shipNeuenfelsfor the German shipping companyDDG "Hansa".Spain seized her in 1918 and had her converted into aseaplane tenderandballoon carrier,enteringSpanish Navyservice in 1922. She served in theRif War,in which her aircraft took part in theAlhucemas landingof French and Spanish forces in 1925. She was decommissioned in 1934 and scrapped in 1940.

History
Germany
NameNeuenfels
NamesakeBurg Neuenfels[de]
OwnerDDG „Hansa “
Port of registryBremen
BuilderWigham Richardson,Low Walker
Cost£81,750
Yard number375
Launched19 April 1901
CompletedMay 1901
Refit1922
Identification
Fateseized by Spain, October 1918
Notes
Spain
Name
  • 1919:España No.6
  • 1921:Dédalo
NamesakeDaedalus
Acquired1921
Commissioned1922
Decommissioned1934
StrickenApril 1936
FateScrapped 1940
General characteristics
Type
Tonnage5,650GRT,3,651NRT
Displacement9,900 tonnes[citation needed]
Length420.0 ft (128.0 m)
Beam55.2 ft (16.8 m)
Depth20.5 ft (6.2 m)
Decks1
Installed power494NHP,3,000shp(2,200kW)[citation needed]
Propulsion
Speed11.1 knots (20.6 km/h)
Complement(as seaplane tender): 398
Armament
  • (as seaplane tender):
  • 4 ×Krupp105 mm (4.1 in) guns
  • 2 × 57 mm (2.2 in)anti-aircraftguns
Aircraft carried(as seaplane tender and balloon carrier): 20seaplanesorflying boats,2airships,2captive balloons

DédaloisSpanishforDaedalus.This is the first of two Spanish Navy ships to bear the name. The second was the formerUnited States Navyaircraft carrierUSSCabot,which Spain borrowed in 1967, bought in 1972 and decommissioned in 1989.

Building

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In 1901Wigham Richardsonbuilt four ships with consecutive yard numbers at its Neptune Yard inLow Walkeron the River Tyne for the DDG "Hansa" shipping line. Three weresister ships:Argenfelslaunched in 7 January,Neuenfelslaunched on 19 April andScharzfelslaunched on 5 June.[1][2][3]The other ship wasWildenfels,which was smaller than the three sisters, and launched on 5 March.[4]

Neuenfelswas yard number 375. Her registered length was 420.0 ft (128.0 m), her beam was 55.2 ft (16.8 m), her depth was 20.5 ft (6.2 m) and hertonnageswere 5,650GRT,3,651NRT.She had a singlescrew,driven by a four-cylinderquadruple-expansion enginethat was rated at 494NHP.She achieved 11.1 knots (20.6 km/h) on hersea trials.[2]

DDG "Hansa" paid Wigham Richardson £81,750 to buildNeuenfels,on which Wigham Richardson netted a profit of £8,543–3s–6d.[2]She wasregisteredinBremen.Hercode letterswere QHJR.[5]By 1914 she was equipped forwireless telegraphy,and hercall signwas DNU.[6]

Seizure and conversion

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When theFirst World Warbegan in July 1914, many German merchant ships made for the nearest neutral port to shelter from theRoyal Navy,French NavyandRussian Navy.Neuenfelstook refuge inVigoin Spain. During theAtlantic U-boat campaign of World War I,theImperial German Navysank a number of neutral ships, notably during times ofunrestricted submarine warfare.These included a number of Spanish merchant ships, for which the Spanish government sought compensation from the German government. In October 1918, Spain seized six German merchant ships that were in Spanish ports.Neuenfelswas seized on 22 October, and provisionally renamedEspaña No.6.

For some time the Spanish Navy had wanted to acquire a seaplane tender. In the autumn of 1921España No.6was transferred to the Navy, and from that December she spent five months inBarcelonabeing converted. The conversion was completed for eight millionpesetas,and in 1922 the Navycommissionedher asDédalo.[7]

Aircraft facilities

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Profile ofDédaloin 1922, after conversion into aseaplane tenderandballoon carrier

Dédalocould carry twocaptive observation balloonsof 1,200 m3(42,000 cu ft) volume, two Italian-built armedairshipsof 1,500 m3(53,000 cu ft) volume, and up to 20seaplanesorflying boats.During her career she carried several types of flying boat, including theFelixstowe F.3,Savoia S.16and S.16bis,Macchi M.18andSupermarine Scarab.

Dédalohad twohangars.One was forward of hersuperstructureand was for her airships, for which she had amooring maston herbow.The other was abaft her superstructure, and had anelevatorto service her flying boats. Having neither aflush decknor acatapult,she usedcranesto launch and retrieve her flying boats.

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Dédalotaking part in theAlhucemas landing,September 1925

Dédalowas based atCartagena.She took part in the Rif War until late September 1925 under the command ofWenceslao Benítez Inglott.On 8 September 1925 her Supermarine Scarab flying boats and one of her airships conducted bombing raids in support of the Alhucemas landing, which was the first successfulamphibious landingof the modern era.[8][9][10][11]

Juan de la Cierva´sCierva C.30autogyrotaking off fromDédaloin 1934

After theSecond Spanish Republicwas declared in April 1931,Dédalobecame part of theSpanish Republican Navy.On 7 March 1934 aviation history was made whenJuan de la Cierva,the inventor of theautogyro,performed a perfect landing onDédalowith aCierva C.30autogyro, registered G-ACIO, near thePort of Valencia.Half an hour later Cierva and his autogyro took off from her deck, after a short run of just 24 metres. This was the firstrotorcraftto take off and land on the deck of a ship.[12]

Dédalowas decommissioned in 1934, laid up atSaguntoin 1935, and struck from the naval register in April 1936.[13]That July theSpanish Civil Warbegan, during which aNationalistair attack damaged her and prevented her from leaving Cartagena. The war ended in April 1939, and on 1 March 1940 she was towed to Valencia to be scrapped. However, due to bomb damage she sank, causing an obstruction in Valencia harbour. She was later blown up to clear the obstruction.[2]

References

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  1. ^"Argenfels".Tyne Built Ships.Retrieved5 November2022.
  2. ^abcd"Neuenfels".Tyne Built Ships.Retrieved5 November2022.
  3. ^"Scharzfels".Tyne Built Ships.Retrieved5 November2022.
  4. ^"Wildenfels".Tyne Built Ships.Retrieved5 November2022.
  5. ^Lloyd's Register,1901,NER–NEU.
  6. ^The Marconi Press Agency Ltd 1914,p. 373.
  7. ^"Reales Órdenes, Estado Mayor Central".Diario Oficial del Ministerio de Marina(in Spanish). 7 January 1922. p. 30.Retrieved10 January2021– via Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa, Ministerio de Defensa.
  8. ^"Las sufridas, Heroicas alas de España".Blanco y Negro Madrid(in Spanish). 20 September 1925. p. 88 – via Archivo ABC.
  9. ^Díaz-Bedia Astor 2016,p. 274.
  10. ^Laforet Hernández 2010,p. 74.
  11. ^Armada Española 2017,pp. 57–60.
  12. ^"The firstDédalowas an aircraft transportation ship and the first in the world from which an autogyro took off and landed. "Naval Ship Systems Command, US:Naval Ship Systems Command technical news.1966, v. 15–16, page 40
  13. ^"El portaeronaves Dédalo, ha sido dado de baja".ABC Sevilla(in Spanish). 29 April 1936. p. 39.

Bibliography

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