( I have included only this one page from a book of 13 pages, but as I feel that knowledge on the Mexican Navy is quite rare for this period I have taken this liberty. T.D.H. ) 1882: Four gunboats existed in 1882. These were the "Democrata" (launched 1875) and "Mexico" (launched 25th Nov. 1874); they were sister ships, both built by Rennie, Britain ( 450 tons, 42,7m x 7,6m x 3.4m, iron hull, 600 HP = 10 knots, 2 x 20lb Vavasseur BL. Guns, 60 crew ). "Independencia" and "Libertad" ( both launched 1874 by Laird, Birkenhead, 425 tons, 38m x 7.3m x 2.7m, composite hull, 425 HP = 10 knots, 1 x 100lb and 2 x 20lb guns ). There were also 4 very small gunboats. 1884: One of the very small gunboats stricken. 1891: Cruiser "Zaragosa" launched at Granvill, France ( 1,200 tons, 65m x 10m x 4.3m ), steel hull, 4 x 120mm Canet and 2 x 57mm QF guns, 2MG, 1300-15 knots, 270 crew ( was originally named "Porfirio Diaz" but was renamed before launching and her originally designed armament was to be 2 x 120mm Canet and 4 x 100lb Vavasseur guns, but it was changed to the above ). 1894: Gunboats "Mexico" and "Democrata" rearmed ( now; 2 x 160mm and 2 x 97mm guns ). Gunboats "Libertad" and "Independencia" also rearmed ( now; 1 x 160mm and 2 x 97mm guns ). 1900: Five ships purchased, transport "Oaxaca", revenue-steamers "Campeche" and "Marzatlan", steamer "Donato Guerra" and sail-ship "Yucatan". 1902: Gunboats "Tampico" and "Vera Cruz" launched in September, at Elizabethport, N.J. U.S.A. ( 980 tons, 60.9m x 10m x 3m, steel hull, 4 x 100mm and 4 x 57mm guns, 1TT, 2400HP = 16 knots, 100 crew, 2,000 sea-miles radius of action ), police-boat "Triton" launched in Germany ( 30m long, 2 screws ). 1904: Gunboats "Bravo" and "Morelos" launched by Odero, Livorno, Italy ( 1,200 tons, 76m x 10m x 3m, steel hull, 2 x 100mm and 5 x 57mm guns, 1 torpedo tube, 116 crew, 260HP = 17 knots, 3 screws, 5,000 sea-miles radius of action ). 1907: Transport/Gunboat "General Guerrero" ( later called "Vicente Guerrero" ) launched by Vickers at Barrow ( 1,850 tons, 74.6m x 11m x 5.2m, steel hull, 1,200HP = 12 knots, 6 x 100mm and 2 x 47mm guns ). 1909: Modern guns were mounted on the training ship "Zaragosa". 1910: The following were struck from the list; "Yucatan", "Oaxaca", "Campeche", "Mazatlan", "Donato Guerra" and "Mexico". 1914: Reclassification carried out as follows; small cruisers "Zaragosa", "Progreso" and "general Guerrero", gunboats "Bravo", "Moralos", "Tampico" and "Vera Cruz", training-ship "Democrata", harbour- ships ( Hulks almost ) "Independencia" and "Libertad", police-boat "Triton" stricken. Back to Table of Contents: Booklet No. 5, Mexican Army 1900-20 Back to El Dorado List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by The South and Central Military Historians Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com