Fernando Villaamil Fernando Villaamil ( November 23 , 1845 – July 3 , 1898 ) was a Spanish naval officer , remembered for his internationally recognized professionalism , for being the designer of the first destroyer warship in history and for his heroic death in the naval Battle of Santiago de Cuba of the Spanish - American war , being the highest ranking Spanish officer to suffer this fate in that event . The origins . Fernando Villaamil was born in Serantes , near Castropol ( Asturias ) , in the north of Spain , less than a mile from the Bay of Biscay coastline . He descended from a family of respected noblemen and landowners , but his father found himself almost completely ruined , and had to sell all his property , including the family ancestral home . It seems that this event produced a strong mixed feeling of both affection and anger about his native region in Fernando , which would last for the rest of his life . In 1861 he entered the Spanish Navy " Colegio Naval de San Fernando " , and one year later he went , as midshipman , aboard the frigate " Esperanza " , the first of the long series of warships on which he would serve his nation until the final " Furor " . He then served in the Philippines and Cuba , the last remains of the Spanish Empire , and in 1873 he was back in Spain and was nominated as a teacher in the Naval School that the Spanish Navy held aboard a frigate anchored in the naval base of Ferrol . Along the following years Villaamil took advantage of the studying and writing opportunities presented by his new job , becoming one of the best known and respected Spanish Navy officers . The " Destructor " . In 1884 , Villaamil was appointed Second Officer in the Ministry of the Navy . As such , he took the initiative of studying and designing a new class of warship intended to fight the then - new torpedo boats . Once he reached his conclusions on the subject , he obtained the agreement of the Minister of the Navy , Manuel Pezuela , and selected the British shipyards of James & George Thompson , in Clydebank to build the new vessel , beginning in late 1885 . Villaamil was assigned to Great Britain to supervise the works and study the operating procedures of the British naval dockyards , as well as the new Engineers corps . On January 19 , 1887 , the Destructor , the first torpedo boat destroyer , was formally handed over to the Spanish Navy , with great expectations from the European naval community . On the 24 the ship , which had reached in the trials , weighed anchor in Falmouth , bounded for Vigo , with Villaamil in command . Twenty - four hours later , she reached the Spanish coast , making through a stormy Bay of Biscay . In one day the doubts about the ship seaworthiness were answered forever , and her designer and commander had every reason to feel proud . As a consequence of the success of the " Destructor " , Villaamil ' s professional reputation grew , both in Spain and abroad . Around the world aboard the " Nautilus " . Villaamil was a strong advocate of oceanic sailing as the best training for the young Navy officers and in 1892 , being appointed commander of the corvette " Nautilus " he took advantage of the celebrations of the fourth centenary of America ' s discovery to get approval for an instruction cruise around the world , rounding the three Great Capes . On November 30 , 1892 the " Nautilus " left Ferrol , in the northwest end of Spain . She rounded Cape Agulhas and Cape Leeuwin , passed through Bass and Cook straits , rounded Cape Horn , went to New York and eventually , after sailing forty thousand miles , came back to Spain on a shining Sunday , July 16 , 1894 , in San Sebastián . Here the sailors suddenly realized that an approaching launch hoisted the royal pennant . It was the Regent Queen and her son , the child King Alfonso XIII , coming to welcome Villaamil and all the " Nautilus " crew . The Spanish - American war . During the following years , Villaamil and some other forward - thinking colleagues tried to make the Spanish public aware of the critical deficiencies of the Navy . Then , events rushed ahead : tension with the United States was rising quickly , and on February 16 , 1898 — the day following the sudden explosion of the USS " Maine " in Havana — Villaamil was appointed Chief of the First Division of torpedo boats and destroyers . Meanwhile , a totally unrealistic feeling of unbeatable naval power spread over Spain , and the Government decided that a whole fleet , commanded by Admiral Pascual Cervera , should be sent across the Atlantic , contrary to Cervera ' s and the Spanish Navy ' s own advice . Villaamil and his First Division left Cadiz on March 13 , and on April 18 they gathered with Admiral Cervera ' s fleet in the Cape Verde islands . A month later , on April 24 , the United States declared war on Spain , and Cervera received the order to go to the Antilles . Villaamil ' s Division was split , its destroyers integrated in Cervera ' s fleet , and the torpedo boats sent back to Spain . Thus , Villaamil was left with no very specific responsibilities . He could have returned to Spain , but he chose to go forward with his fellows , even though he was totally aware of the disaster the ill prepared fleet was headed for . He was always in disagreement with both the Spanish Government ' s shaky war direction and Cervera ' s rather passive strategy . Instead , he advocated trying to offset the superiority of the American forces by scattering the fleet and taking the initiative through quick and dispersed daring actions ; and he even volunteered to lead an audacious diversionary attack to New York with his destroyers , but his proposals were not accepted . Therefore , Villaamil had to resign himself unwillingly to be shut with all the fleet in the bay of Santiago de Cuba . In the end , on July 3 the whole Spanish fleet came out through the narrow mouth of the bay , ship by ship , almost like a funeral cortege , to be easily destroyed by the waiting American fleet in an eerie kind of target shooting exercise . The end . Villaamil was killed on board one of his destroyers , the " Furor " . Francisco Arderius , officer in the ship , reported Fernando Villaamil ' s end :