By Jürg Meister
"INDEPENDENCIA", built 1893-4 in England, 432 tons, 173x25x12.6 ft., 5 Hotchkiss guns and 2 mgs. 15 knots, 2 screws. Owing to financial problems she was used as a merchant-ship in 1900, while on the 23rd March 1903 she was involved in an attack on the Ozama river fort that was in the hands of rebels, but on the following day was forced to surrender to them. She later participated in numerous other actions in other civil wars, bombarding shore positions and troop carrying, on the 1st June 1916 she helped in the rescue of the crew from the U.S. Torpedo boat "25 Terrie" that became stranded at Bajos de Cafemba. From time to time the "Independencia" was also used as a training ship for the Escuela Naval. Decommissioned on the 20th February 1920, she was broken up at Puerto Rico. "PRESIDENTE", purchased in 1887, 389 tons, 1 x 80mm Whitworth gun, 2x47mm Canet guns, 1x37mm Hotchkiss, some mgs, 47 rifles, with a crew of 67, she served as Presidential Yacht. During the civil war of 1903 she found herself on the 28th March off Tortuguero and opposed to the "Independencia" and "Estrella", but managed to retire without a fight. On the 1st April 1903 she participated in the blockade and shelling of the Ozama river fort, while on the 20th February 1904, together with the "Estrella", she shelled Puerto de San Pedro de Macoris, receiving a shell hit on the waterline. After being repaired she returned to the blockade and after a new bombardment sent in a strong landing party ashore. She went to the U.S.A. for further repairs in 1906, it would appear that it was more viable to sell her off in the States for scrap, which was carried out in 1907. "RESTAURACION", built 1896 in England, 1,000 tons, 7 guns, 2 mgs, 15 knots, served as flagship and school ship for Aspirantes (Cadets), she was stranded while on an official mission in the Rio Higuamo at San Pedro de Macoris on the 28th August 1899, and was destroyed the following day by a cyclone. Back to Table of Contents -- El Dorado Vol VIII No. 3 Back to El Dorado List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 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 |