by Willie » Mon Jan 27, 2020 6:58 pm
Refittings.
Saved from a conversion that from the very beginning showed little options for success, Canarias entered the yards at El Ferrol for a major refit in October 1952 .
The most noticeable change of this refit is that the broad double funnel was replaced by twin vertical stacks, a return to the original plan. The fore part of the conning bridge became enclosed and its wings extended.
The recently built foremast received a navigational radar antenna installed on the crosstree, but fire control remained nevertheless visually directed, and therefore very limited in the prevalent naval warfare conditions.
This was the section that experienced the bulk of the reconstruction.
The after 4 pairs of German 37mm a/a guns gave way to 4 single 40�s. These were 40mm 70 cal. Bofors L-70 mounts built in Spain under license. Their elevation was -10� to 90�, their muzzle velocity 1,000m/sec, and rate of fire 240 rounds/min. Magazine capacity reportedly reached 12,000 rounds, but the lack of electronic fire director made all this array of some obsolescent weaponry virtually useless for modern warfare.
This change produced the final array of armament that would serve
Canarias for the rest of her career: 8-203mm (8in.) guns paired in 4 turrets, 8-120mm (4.7in.) DP guns in single shielded mounts , 4-40mm a/a guns in single open mounts, 4-37mm a/a guns in double open mounts, 2-20mm a/a guns and 2-DCTs in stern racks.
Canarias emerged renewed in February 1953, and this was therefore her new looking from then on, a very unusual step back to the original design:
The hope to mount an aircraft catapult, so long postponed, and by now the victim of radar and unhappy WWII experience with the flammability of shipboard aircraft, was finally dropped as obsolete, waiting for a fleet carrier.
By the end of the 1950s,
Canarias received a sturdy tripod foremast fitted to carry a suite of radar and other antennas.
A few years later she added a light bipod support to the mainmast for yet another radar antenna.
But all this was to be temporary, for in the 1960�s the Spanish Navy planned to make up for a belated entry into the electronic age with a thorough modernization of the flagship.
Preliminary plans called for guided Terrier SAM missile armament, as other nations were doing with gun cruisers, and U.S. semi-auto 127 mm turrets were received and stored at Ferrol, scheduled to take place of the 120 mm. But despite the soundness of her hull and machinery,
Canarias was clearly an obsolescent vessel, and the plan was eventually dropped as not practicable. The Spanish Navy turned to the refitting of other existing units and the purchase the first five American
Fletcher class destroyers, followed later by the 5
Gearing class units, that could perform almost any mission more efficiently and more cheaply.
Eventually the 127mm. turrets bought from the US Navy were fitted on the Spanish construction, cold war destroyers
Roger de Lauria and
Marqu�s de la Ensenada.
As for
Canarias herself, a limited modernization was completed in 1969 instead. A roomy CIC was built half way aft of the bridge structure, complemented by an enlarged, covered conning bridge. A larger radar shack was fitted aft, and whip antennas were added to the stacks and bridge. Radars included a Decca 12 navigation set, a U.S. SG-6B surface search, and an Italian Marconi MLA-IB air search. Later she added a Marconi surface search as well.
So, this was the conning bridge alter her last refit:
And this was her last and (IMHO) attractive look for the rest of her active life. Notice the two tripod masts, the radars, the new CIC, the enlarged bridge, the whip antennas everywhere:
Unnecessary to say, her weaponry could have but a minor function in any conflict, but still being the Navy flagship, she was now more suitable as a command ship for modern operations.
[/size]
[size=150][b]Refittings[/b].
Saved from a conversion that from the very beginning showed little options for success, [i][b]Canarias[/b][/i] entered the yards at El Ferrol for a major refit in October 1952 .
The most noticeable change of this refit is that the broad double funnel was replaced by twin vertical stacks, a return to the original plan. The fore part of the conning bridge became enclosed and its wings extended.
The recently built foremast received a navigational radar antenna installed on the crosstree, but fire control remained nevertheless visually directed, and therefore very limited in the prevalent naval warfare conditions.
This was the section that experienced the bulk of the reconstruction.
[attachment=8](92) 1953.jpg[/attachment]
The after 4 pairs of German 37mm a/a guns gave way to 4 single 40�s. These were 40mm 70 cal. Bofors L-70 mounts built in Spain under license. Their elevation was -10� to 90�, their muzzle velocity 1,000m/sec, and rate of fire 240 rounds/min. Magazine capacity reportedly reached 12,000 rounds, but the lack of electronic fire director made all this array of some obsolescent weaponry virtually useless for modern warfare.
This change produced the final array of armament that would serve [i][b]Canarias[/b][/i] for the rest of her career: 8-203mm (8in.) guns paired in 4 turrets, 8-120mm (4.7in.) DP guns in single shielded mounts , 4-40mm a/a guns in single open mounts, 4-37mm a/a guns in double open mounts, 2-20mm a/a guns and 2-DCTs in stern racks.
[i][b]Canarias[/b][/i] emerged renewed in February 1953, and this was therefore her new looking from then on, a very unusual step back to the original design:
[attachment=7](93).JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=6](94).jpg[/attachment]
The hope to mount an aircraft catapult, so long postponed, and by now the victim of radar and unhappy WWII experience with the flammability of shipboard aircraft, was finally dropped as obsolete, waiting for a fleet carrier.
By the end of the 1950s, [i][b]Canarias[/b][/i] received a sturdy tripod foremast fitted to carry a suite of radar and other antennas.
[attachment=5](95).jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=4](96).jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=3](96b).jpg[/attachment]
A few years later she added a light bipod support to the mainmast for yet another radar antenna.
But all this was to be temporary, for in the 1960�s the Spanish Navy planned to make up for a belated entry into the electronic age with a thorough modernization of the flagship.
Preliminary plans called for guided Terrier SAM missile armament, as other nations were doing with gun cruisers, and U.S. semi-auto 127 mm turrets were received and stored at Ferrol, scheduled to take place of the 120 mm. But despite the soundness of her hull and machinery, [i][b]Canarias[/b][/i] was clearly an obsolescent vessel, and the plan was eventually dropped as not practicable. The Spanish Navy turned to the refitting of other existing units and the purchase the first five American [i][b]Fletcher[/b][/i] class destroyers, followed later by the 5 [i][b]Gearing[/b][/i] class units, that could perform almost any mission more efficiently and more cheaply.
Eventually the 127mm. turrets bought from the US Navy were fitted on the Spanish construction, cold war destroyers [i][b]Roger de Lauria[/b][/i] and [i][b]Marqu�s de la Ensenada[/b][/i].
As for [i][b]Canarias[/b][/i] herself, a limited modernization was completed in 1969 instead. A roomy CIC was built half way aft of the bridge structure, complemented by an enlarged, covered conning bridge. A larger radar shack was fitted aft, and whip antennas were added to the stacks and bridge. Radars included a Decca 12 navigation set, a U.S. SG-6B surface search, and an Italian Marconi MLA-IB air search. Later she added a Marconi surface search as well.
So, this was the conning bridge alter her last refit:
[attachment=2](97).jpg[/attachment]
And this was her last and (IMHO) attractive look for the rest of her active life. Notice the two tripod masts, the radars, the new CIC, the enlarged bridge, the whip antennas everywhere:
[attachment=1](98).jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0](99).JPG[/attachment]
Unnecessary to say, her weaponry could have but a minor function in any conflict, but still being the Navy flagship, she was now more suitable as a command ship for modern operations.
[/size]