History
The mystery of the ghost ship that disappeared in the Strait of Gibraltar
The Reina Regente left Tangier for Cadiz with more than 400 Spanish crew on board in 1895 ·
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The Reina Regente left Tangier for Cadiz with more than 400 Spanish crew on board in 1895 ·
Israel Viana
Madrid
Monday, 18 November 2024, 16:22
The Spanish Navy's protected cruier Reina Regente departed from Tangiers for Cadiz on 9 March 1895 and was last seen a few hours later by the crews of English steamers Mayfield and Matheus.
The previous day, the newspaper El Liberal had reported, "The Moors will board the ship at seven o'clock in the morning." By "Moors", the report referred to a delegation sent by the Sultan of Morocco who had been in Madrid attempting to negotiate a peace agreement with the Spanish government, which ultimately failed. After delivering the delegation, the ship planned to return to Spain as quickly as possible. The crew were unaware that they were on the verge of experiencing one of the worst naval disasters in Spanish history; the 412 people on board would soon vanish without a trace in the Strait of Gibraltar.
This incident can be considered as one of the greatest mysteries in the history of Spanish navigation, as well as one of its worst catastrophes, given the high number of victims. The tragically famous ship, named after María Cristina de Habsburgo (Maria Christina of Austria), set sail from Cadiz at dawn and dropped anchor off Tangiers after 9pm, according to other newspapers such as El Día, La Época and El Imparcial. These publications closely followed the Moroccan Sultan's delegation that had been sent to Madrid to negotiate a peace agreement with the Spanish government. Due to the importance of these negotiations, they provided extensive coverage of the delegation's activities and even issued a warning about the approaching storm.
According to the captain of the Mayfield, the following day, they were in the midst of a strong windstorm when they spotted the Reina Regente which was much further engulfed by the storm and appeared to be in imminent danger. This account was relayed to the Spanish maritime authorities, who recorded it in the following report: "The steamer stated that the ship it saw resembled the photograph of the Reina Regente. While it didn't notice any damage, the vessel was rolling heavily. This sighting occurred 12 miles northwest of Cabo Espartel, heading towards Cadiz."
The captain of the Matheus provided a similar account: "At the same time, our vessel was positioned between the two ships, making its way to the Strait of Gibraltar and Genoa." He reported that at half past twelve, they were caught in a violent squall of wind and rain and could add little more, except that the ship passed just a mile and a half away from them, though he couldn't determine its nationality amid the chaotic conditions.
The first rumours of the tragedy emerged three days later, as reported by El Día: "A telegram from Tangier raises concerns about the uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts of the Reina Regente, which left that port on Sunday. Other telegrams indicate that the beautiful ship may have sunk, although this has not yet been confirmed. Authorities in Cadiz have reported that the sea has washed ashore items that undoubtedly belong to the Reina Regente. There are increasing rumours that the wreck is indeed a reality. If this is the case, Spain will have lost its second combat ship: a stunning armoured cruiser built with the latest advancements in naval technology."
Captain Francisco Sanz de Andino likely received orders to return to Spain immediately, as he set sail during the height of the storm without waiting for conditions to improve. Little was known about the cruiser or its 412 crew members "after the sudden and complete disappearance of the ship," as El Diario Vasco noted in 1970. Other sources cited a death toll of between 415 and 420 victims. "Despite the fact that 75 years have passed since the disaster - one of the greatest mysteries in the history of navigation - masses are still held for the victims every 10 March in some churches in Galicia, since nearly all the sailors aboard the ship were Galician," the article stated.
The Reina Regente was constructed at the Scottish shipyards of James and George Thompson and was recognised as the first modern cruiser of Restoration-era Spain. Its design was exceptionally advanced and ambitious for the time, measuring 95.5 metres in length, 15.25 metres in beam, with a displacement of 4,800 tonnes and a power output of 12,000 horsepower. Its remarkable design had already captured the attention of some of the world's most prestigious newspapers even before it was officially delivered to the Spanish Navy on 1 January, 1888.
Before its disappearance, the Reina Regente had a very busy schedule. It participated in the inauguration of the Universal Exposition in Barcelona that same year and travelled frequently between Genoa and Havana, among other destinations, until it vanished. "In various gatherings, cafés, and casinos, the only topic of conversation last night was the possible accident involving the cruiser," reported El Correo Español the following day.
In the days that followed, Spanish newspapers reported on the discussions in Spain's Congreso regarding the tragedy and the search for those responsible, while also reflecting the dwindling hopes of finding any survivors. "We have now gone five days without news of the beautiful war cruiser. Anxiety is mounting, and, regrettably, so is the certainty of a disaster," stated an article in El Día.
The exact circumstances of what happened were never definitively established, and even today, conflicting theories persist. In an interview with La Verdad of Murcia, writer Diego Quevedo said, "The captain chose to set sail, trusting in the ship's strength, but it capsized. There were no survivors, and not even the bodies were ever found. And it wasn’t an old ship! It was one of the most modern vessels - a cruiser reinforced with thick armour and equipped with powerful cannons."
During those painful days, many witnesses claimed to have seen the ghost ship on the waters of the Strait, approaching the coast. A floating bottle even appeared, allegedly containing the signature of the cruiser's second commander, though it was later deemed a cruel prank by an anonymous local. In 1970, Diario Vasco reported that only one sailor from the crew survived, having remained in Tangier completely intoxicated.
"Of course, he was arrested," the article added, "but Queen María Cristina, the namesake of the lost cruiser, believed there might have been something miraculous in the salvation of that man. She ordered not only his release but also his honorable discharge from military service."
In 1956, ABC reported that the "causes of the disaster that deprived our Navy of one of its finest ships were never determined, as the ocean swallowed it whole, leaving no trace of the 420 men on board. The absence of any bodies washing ashore was attributed to the belief that the crew members were tied to their stations when the ship sank, preventing them from being swept away by the strong waves. The painful curiousity about the exact location of the wreck or any credible theories regarding its causes remained unanswered. Since 10 March, 1895, the fate of the Reina Regente has been a haunting nightmare for all Spaniards."
The most likely explanation, according to the aforementioned Basque nespaper, was that the ship sank suddenly, either by capsizing or plunging forward due to "a synchronisation of pitching or rolling between the ship's movement and the large waves. The coincidence could have amplified the ship's pitching to such an extent that it tilted dramatically forward toward the sea, potentially causing it to sink instantly in the direction it was travelling." It took a month for Gaceta de Madrid- which served as the equivalent of today's Official State Gazette (BOE) - to publish an official statement and a notice of mourning, ultimately declaring the ship lost.
One indication of how rough the seas were that day is that other ships were also lost along the Andalusian coast. For instance, the steamer Carpio, carrying 40 passengers, sank while travelling from Huelva to Cadiz. The technical commission tasked with investigating the Reina Regente's dissapearance acknowledged the possibility that the storm, by flooding the decks and forward compartments, caused the cruiser to capsize, which may have already been adrift due to a malfunction in the rudder or engines. "Yet neither this plausible explanation nor any others were accepted by the sailors' mothers, wives, fiancees and sisters , as there was never a single piece of concrete evidence to confirm the shipwreck. In fact, many continued to hold on to the hope of their loved ones' return for years," Diario Vasco reported.
In 2009, the Spanish Government launched a plan for Navy ships to begin searching for and protecting historic shipwrecks like the Reina Regente, according to sources from the Ministry of Defence, as reported by ABC. In fact, a number of vessels and divers were made available to the National Museum of Maritime Archaeology in Cartagena to locate the cruiser, but the search was never completed.
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