Spanish ironclad Pelayo Pelayo was an ironclad battleship of the Spanish Navy which served in the Spanish fleet from 1888 to 1925 . For many years , she was the only battleship and the most powerful unit of the Spanish Navy . Technical characteristics . Ordered in November 1884 , " Pelayo " was built at La Seyne in France . Her keel was laid in April 1885 , and she was launched on 5 February 1887 and completed in the summer of 1888 . She was originally intended to be the first of a new class of battleships , but a crisis with the German Empire in the Caroline Islands in 1890 led to the cancellation of these plans and the diversion of funds to the construction of the " Infanta Maria Teresa " - class armored cruiser s . " Pelayo " was viewed as too slow and having too little coal endurance for colonial service , and ended up being the only member of her class . The design of " Pelayo " was based on that of the French battleship " Marceau " , modified to give her a draft that was 3 feet ( 0 . 9 m ) shallower so that she could transit the Suez Canal at full load displacement . Originally equipped with sails , she had them deleted soon after completion . She had two funnels . Her gun was a bow chaser . Her armor belt was 6 feet 11 inches ( 2 . 1 m ) wide amidships and extended 2 feet ( 0 . 6 m ) above and almost below the waterline . Internally , she had French - style cellular construction with 13 watertight bulkheads and a double bottom . She was a barbette ship , an ancestor of the modern battleship with the main battery mounted in open barbettes on armored rotating platforms , in contrast to the heavy , self - contained turrets more common of the period , which the progress of the design of modern battleships would soon to abandon . Her main guns could be loaded in any position , and consisted of two Gonzalez Hontoria - built guns mounted fore and aft on the centerline and two Gonzalez Hontoria guns , also in barbettes , with one mounted on either beam " Pelayo " was reconstructed at La Seyne in 1897 - 1898 , receiving armor for her midships battery and having her and guns replaced by pieces , one mounted as a bow chaser and the rest on the broadside . However , the installation of these new guns was disrupted and delayed when she was rushed back into service after the Spanish - American War began . During a major refit in 1910 , her torpedo tubes were removed . Operational history . " Pelayo " spent her early years in Spanish waters , showing the flag in various naval reviews and exhibitions , notably in Greece in 1891 , at Genoa , Italy , in 1892 , and Kiel , Germany , in 1895 . She began a reconstruction at La Seyne in 1897 , and was there when the Spanish - American War broke out in April 1898 . She was rushed back into service with her old and guns removed but her new guns not yet mounted , and entered service with the Reserve Squadron on 14 May 1898 . She remained in Spanish waters for a month to guard against United States Navy raids against the Spanish coast . She then was assigned to the 2nd Squadron , commanded by Rear Admiral Manuel de Camara , which was to steam to the Philippines and defeat the U . S . Navy ' s Asiatic Squadron , which had controlled Philippine waters since defeating the Spanish squadron of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasaron in the Battle of Manila Bay . Camara ' s squadron — consisting of " Pelayo " , armored cruiser " Emperador Carlos V " , auxiliary cruisers " Patriota " and " Rapido " , destroyers " Audaz " , " Osado " , and " Prosepina " , and transports " Buenos Aires " and " Panay " — sortied from Cadiz on 16 June 1898 , passing Gibraltar on 17 June 1898 . It arrived at Port Said , Egypt , on 26 June 1898 , and requested permission to transship coal , which the Egyptian government finally denied on 30 June 1898 out of concern for Egyptian neutrality . By the time Camara ' s squadron arrived at Suez on 5 July 1898 , the squadron of Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete had been annihilated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba , freeing up the U . S . Navy ' s heavy forces from the blockade of Santiago de Cuba . Fearful for the security of the Spanish coast , the Spanish Ministry of Marine recalled Camara ' s squadron on 7 July 1898 , and " Pelayo " returned to Spain , where Camara ' s 2nd Squadron was dissolved on 25 July 1898 . " Pelayo " spent the last month of the war in Spanish waters , and thus missed combat . After the war , she resumed her duty of showing the flag , attending naval reviews in Toulon , France , in 1901 and in Lisbon , Portugal , and Vigo Bay , Spain , in 1904 . But the Spanish Navy found it difficult to find a role for " Pelayo " , which had no similar ships with which to operate . There was thought of having her operate with Spain ' s new dreadnoughts when they began to commission during the World War I era , but by then she was too old and slow to be compatible with them . She thus earned the nickname " Solitario " , meaning " solitary " . " Pelayo " fired her guns in anger only once , when she bombarded Moroccan insurgents in 1909 during the Second Rif War . " Pelayo " underwent a major refit in 1910 . In 1912 , she was badly damaged in Fonduko Bay due to a navigational error . She was repaired , but thereafter served as a training ship , including service in 1920 and 1921 as a gunnery training ship in the Training Division . " Pelayo " was disarmed in 1923 and scrapped in 1925 .