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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Reina Mercedes (IX-25)
ex
 Reina Mercedes (1905 - 1920)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Golf - Lima
 NIGL
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - World War I Victory Medal - American Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
Unprotected Cruiser/Barracks Ship:
  • Laid down as Alfonso XII for the Spanish Navy at Cartagena, Spain
  • Launched, 12 September 1887
  • Captured as a war prize, 17 July 1898, at Santiago de Cuba, during the Spanish-American War
  • Salvaged 2 January 1899 to 1 March 1899
  • Converted to a Non-self Propelled Receiving Ship at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
  • Placed in service in May 1905
  • Towed to Annapolis MD. in 1912 to serve as a Barracks Ship
  • Designated Miscellaneous Unclassified Reina Mercedes (IX-25), 17 July 1920
  • Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register, 6 September 1957
  • Final Disposition, sold to Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, MD., for scrapping
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,835 t.
    Length 296'
    Beam 43' 3"
    Draft 16' 9"(lim)
    Complement 91
    Armament (none)
    Machinery
    two single-ended Scotch boilers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Spanish Cruiser Reina Mercedes
    Reina Mercedes 396k Port quarter view of the Spanish Cruiser Reina Mercedes taken before 1896, when she was sent to Cuba along with her sister Alfonso XII. About two thirds of her artillery were removed and used as shore batteries at Punta Gorda and La Socapa, but with her remaining guns she helped sink USS Merrimac before she reached an obstruction position. Sisters Reina Cristina and Alfonso XII were lost during the Spanish-American War, at Cavite and Santiago, respectively.
    Photo from the collection of the late Antoni Blasi, with permission to publish them, by Camil Busquets. This photo, and several hundred more, can be found in Camil Basquets book "50 Años de Retrato Naval Militar (1870-1920)", ("50 Years of Naval Photography,") published in 2010.    		 Col·lecció Antoni Blasi, via Camil Busquets and Fabio Peña
    Reina Mercedes 92k Spanish Cruiser Reina Mercedes (1887-1898). photographed prior to 1898. She was scuttled at Santiago, Cuba, in July 1898. Later raised by the U.S. Navy, she served as an accommodation ship at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, until scrapped in 1957. Her sister ship, Reina Cristina, was the Spanish flagship in the Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898, and was lost in that action. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Naval Academy, 1941.
    US Navy photo # NH 61231 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Reina Mercedes 57k Spanish Cruiser Reina Mercedes at anchor, circa 1898, location unknown.
    Photo from Museo Naval de Madrid.    		 Robert Hurst
    Reina Mercedes 48k Spanish Cruiser Reina Mercedes sunk at Santiago de Cuba, photo circa 1898-1901 Haze Gray & Underway
    Reina Mercedes 633k Postcard image of the Spanish Cruiser Reina Mercedes scuttled at Santiago de Cuba, photo circa 1898. Arnold A. Putnam
    Reina Mercedes 1179k The wreck of the Spanish Reina Mercedes, after being sunk as a block ship in the entrance channel of the harbor at Santiago de Cuba. circa 1898.
    US Army photo. Exact Date Shot Unknown NARA FILE #: 111-SC-101564 WAR & CONFLICT #: 288. ID: HD-SN-99-01947.
    Photo from Museo Naval de Madrid.    		 Robert Hurst
    Reina Mercedes
    Reina Mercedes 269k Post card image of Reina Mercedes drydocked at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H., circa 1900-1902. Arnold A. Putnam
    Reina Mercedes 62k Reina Mercedes re-floated, refurbished and placed in service as Reina Mercedes, moored to a buoy, date and place unknown.  
    Reina Mercedes 194k Post card image of Reina Mercedes serving as a Receiving Ship at Newport, R.I., circa 1905 to 1912. Arnold A. Putnam
    Reina Mercedes 216k Post card image of Reina Mercedes USS Cumberland (Training Ship #1) and USS Constellation serving as Receiving/Training Ships at Newport, R.I., circa 1905 to 1911. Arnold A. Putnam
    Reina Mercedes 336k Post card image of Reina Mercedes serving as Receiving/Training Ship at Newport, R.I., circa 1905 to 1911. Tommy Trampp
    Reina Mercedes (IX-25)
    Reina Mercedes 54k Vessels present in US Naval Academy basin, circa the 1920s or 1930s are (from left to right center) USS SC-229, Reina Mercedes (IX-25) and USS Cumberland (IX-8).
    US Navy photo # NH 105485. Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008.    		 Ramon Jackson
    Reina Mercedes 35k Reina Mercedes(IX-25) Barracks/Accommodation Ship, Naval Station Annapolis MD Haze Gray & Underway web site
    Reina Mercedes 32k Reina Mercedes (IX-25) Barracks/Accommodation Ship, Naval Station Annapolis MD Gunter Krebs
    Reina Mercedes 144k Post card image of Reina Mercedes (IX-25) Barracks/Accommodation Ship, Naval Station Annapolis MD Arnold A. Putnam
    Reina Mercedes 39k Reina Mercedes (IX-25) Barracks/Accommodation Ship, Naval Station Annapolis MD, circa 1946
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Reina Mercedes 54k Reina Mercedes (IX-25), left, and USS Cumberland (IX-8), right, serving as Barracks/Accommodation Ships, Naval Station Annapolis MD., circa 1930.
    From the collection of CAPT. Normam J. Sampson and his sister.    		 Bob Sampson
    Reina Mercedes 79k Reina Mercedes (IX-25) at left, serving as Barracks/Accommodation Ships, Naval Station Annapolis MD., circa 1930. USS Mahn (DD-102) at anchor, center background.
    From the collection of CAPT. Normam J. Sampson and his sister.    		 Bob Sampson
    Reina Mercedes 54k Reina Mercedes (IX-25), left, and USS Cumberland (IX-8), right, serving as Barracks/Accommodation Ships, Naval Station Annapolis MD., 1939. In the foreground is the Naval Academy sail training yacht, Alligator. Ric Hedman
    Reina Mercedes 59k Reina Mercedes (IX-25), left, and USS Cumberland (IX-8), right, serving as Barracks/Accommodation Ships, Naval Station Annapolis MD. In the foreground are the Naval Academy's sail training yachts, Alligator, Bullfrog, Crocodile and Turtle, circa 1939 Ric Hedman
    Reina Mercedes 54k Reina Mercedes (IX-25) under tow enroute to Norfolk in 1939 for an overhaul. The smoke coming from her stack is a smoke bomb. See the newspaper article below, "Aboard the old Reina Mercedes ship again, at least in their minds." The Washington Post, 6 February 2011 Ramon Jackson
    Reina Mercedes (IX-25)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    "Answer Man takes a voyage into the history of another ship once here, but now gone." The Washington Post, 8 January 2011
    "Aboard the old Reina Mercedes ship again, at least in their minds." The Washington Post, 6 February 2011
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 27 May 2011