Naval battle of the Spanish Civil War
The battle of Cape Machichaco was a naval battle which took place on 5 March 1937 off Bermeo, during the Spanish Civil War, between the Spanish Nationalist heavy cruiser and four Basque Navy trawlers escorting a Republican convoy. The trawlers were protecting the transport ship "Galdames", which was sailing to Bilbao with 173 passengers.
Prelude.
On 4 March, four armed trawlers of the Basque Auxiliary Navy section of the Spanish Republican Navy, "Bizcaya", "Gipuzkoa", "Donostia" and "Nabarra" departed from Bayonne, France. Their intention was to defend "Galdames"'s mail, passengers, machinery, weapons, supplies and 500 tons of nickel coins property of the Basque government. "Canarias" sailed from Ferrol with Salvador Moreno as the captain, with orders to stop the transport ship. "Galdames", which was steaming up with the lights and the radio switched off, was outrun by "Bizcaya" and "Gipuzkoa".
Next morning, while all the trawlers were watching for "Canarias", "Galdames" rejoined them. "Bizcaya"'s captain was Alejo Bilbao, "Nabarra"'s Enrique Moreno Plaza from Murcia, "Gipuzkoa"'s Manuel Galdós, and "Donostia's" Francisco Elortegi.
Engagement.
The first trawler to spot "Canarias" was "Gipuzkoa", north of Bilbao. The Basque trawler was hit on the bridge and the forward gun. Return fire from "Gipuzkoa" killed one "Canarias" seaman and wounded another. The armed trawler, with five fatalities and 20 injured aboard, managed to approach the coast, where the shore batteries forced "Canarias" to retreat. "Nabarra" and "Donostia" tried to prevent "Canarias" from finding "Galdames" and engaged the cruiser.
"Donostia" withdrew from the battle after being fired on by "Canarias", but "Nabarra" faced the enemy for almost two hours. She was eventually hit in the boiler and came to a stop; 20 men abandoned the sinking trawler, while other 29 were lost with the ship, including her captain, Enrique Moreno Plaza.
The transport "Galdames", which was hit by a salvo from "Canarias" and lost four passengers, was eventually captured by the Nationalist cruiser. "Gipuzkoa" arrived at Portugalete seriously damaged and "Bizcaya" headed for Bermeo, where she assisted the Estonian merchantman "Yorbrook" with a load including ammunition and 42 Japanese Type 31 75 mm mountain guns, previously captured by "Canarias" and released. "Donostia" sought shelter in a French port.
Aftermath.
The 20 survivors from "Nabarra" were rescued by the Nationalists and taken aboard "Canarias". Instead of the expected hostility and mistreatment, they were given medical assistance, and both the cruiser commander, future Francoist Admiral Salvador Moreno and Captain Manuel Calderón interceded with Franco when the Basque seamen were sentenced to death in retaliation for the shooting of two crewmembers of the armed trawler "Virgen del Carmen", captured by Republican sympathizers and diverted to Bilbao in December 1936. The survivors were eventually acquitted and released in 1938.
In contrast, one of the passengers aboard "Galdames", Christian Democrat politician Manuel Carrasco Formiguera, from Catalonia, was imprisoned and executed on 9 April 1938.
References.
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