SPAIN

Shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the battleship "Spain", moored in Ferrol, and already out of operational use due to its age, was taken over by the National Forces. She quickly conditioned it to operate in the Bay of Biscay, accompanied by the destroyer "Velasco", in blockade missions of the Republican coast. On April 30, 1937, while she was trying to intercept an English freighter, off the coast of Santander, off Cape Ajo, she collided with a mine that caused a large leak and her sinking. Except for 5 sailors who died from the mine explosion, the crew was rescued by the Velasco. The place where the ship rests, with more than 130 meters in length, is located about 3.5 miles north of the island of Mouro, in front of the town of Galizano, at a depth of about 70 meters. The dive to visit the wreck is complicated, it requires a very high level of technical diving together with the appropriate equipment.

Various sources