Royal Shipyard of Havana

Plan and explanation of the Royal Shipyard of Havana on the island of Cuba and its surroundings (Library of Congress, date and author unknown)

The Royal Shipyard of Havana or the Royal Arsenal of Havana played a prominent role in Spanish shipbuilding in the 18th century. In total, seventy-four warships were built in Havana during this century.^[1]^[2]

History[]

The shipyard had a minor role in relation to the Armada de Barlovento,^[1] but it is with the arrival of , considered "one of the most outstanding figures of Spanish naval construction”,^[1] in 1717 as lieutenant of the Compañía de Gente de Mar and appointed captain of the Maestranza del Arsenal in 1722, when Havana began to stand out as a shipyard. ^[a].He will supervise, between 1724 and 1740, the construction of twenty-three vessels, including the ships San Juan|1724|2 and {San Lorenzo|1725|2^[1] and, between 1732 and 1736, the construction of the ships Africa (San José), (Our Lady of the Pillar), (Our Lady of Loreto, 1735) and the ship America 1736|2 (Our Lady of Bethlehem).^[1] Later, with the dissolution of the Armada de Barlovento in 1748, the Veracruz naval base was transferred to Havana.^[3]

Such was the importance of this shipyard that half of the fourteen three-deck ships and more than 100 cannons launched during the century were built there,^[1] being, of the three great Spanish shipyards of the 18th century —the Royal Shipyard of Guarnizo, the Royal Shipyards of Esteiro and the Havana shipyard—this one that delivered the most ships to the Spanish Navy^[1] during this period, at the end of which it reached its "peak splendor"^[4] in 1794, when it had seventy-six ships of the line and fifty-one frigates, a number that in 1805 had been reduced to fifty-four ships and thirty-seven frigates.^[4] From 1715 to 1759, a third of Spanish ship production came from the shipyard in Havana.^[5] In 1735, its expansion, in the same port, meant an increase in construction capacity.^[5]

Gallery[]

Plano descriptivo del Real Arsenal
Plano del arsenal de La Habana en el siglo XIX

Notes[]

^ The Armada de Barlovento (Windward Fleet) was a military formation that consisted of 50 ships created by the Spanish Empire to protect its overseas American territories from attacks from its European enemies, as well as attacks from pirates and privateers, In 1635, the Spanish crown decided to consolidate its naval power and safeguard its ocean trade between Spain and the Spanish territories overseas. This was done in order to counter the English and French corsairs who preyed on the Spanish treasure fleet. They proposed to create a series of strategic bases between the Bahamas and the Antilles and the creation of an associated armada. Towards this purposes, they ordered the creation of new warships. By the end of the century they had built several small flotillas. Already in the 17th century, prior to the increase in piracy in the Caribbean, Spain had formed a large armada, at considerable economic cost, paid for in part by new taxes in the Indies. The armada was important to Spanish politics in America, playing a crucial defensive and logistical role. In particular it protected the trade and the coasts of the Spanish territories in America, even as they began to coveted by other European powers.