Navarra was an Aragon-class cruiser unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy in the late 19th century.

Technical characteristics

Navarra was built at Ferrol, Spain. Her construction as an armored corvette with a central battery ironclad design began in 1869, with plans to give her 890 tons of armor and 500 mm of armor at the waterline. In 1870, her design was changed to that of an unprotected cruiser or wooden corvette, and, after political events delayed her construction, she finally was launched in this form in 1881 and completed in 1882. Her original conception as an armored ship and the change to an unarmored one during construction left her with an overly heavy wooden hull that was obsolescent by the time of her launch. Designed for colonial service, she had two funnels and was rigged as a barque. Her machinery was manufactured at the naval shipyard at Ferrol. The original main battery of Armstrong-built 8 in guns was obsolescent when she was completed, and were quickly replaced with more modern Krupp-built guns, with the 5.9 in guns mounted in sponsons.

Operational history

Navarra was commissioned in 1882. By the 1890s, she was assigned to the Cadiz Naval Group. Sources differ on her career after that; she either was hulked in 1896 and sold for scrap in 1899 or survived the 1890s to become a cadet training ship in 1900.