According to a tiding dated Madrid 9 June was by royal
decision dated 4 June ordered to restore the Spanish navy in the best possible
state. The ships which were still valuable were to be prepared with all haste
and commissioned. The elder ships were to be broken up and the keels of the
3-decker Cortes and the 74-gun ship of the line Buenos Ayres and
the 44-gun frigate Admiral Gravina to be laid down.(1)
Another Dutch newspaper Koninklijke Courant dated
23 June 1808 published a similar news item although supplying more details. It
referred to the decision of the king of the 4th to repair all ships and to
employ a large number of labourers without work. The ships to be fitted out
were the St. Anna and Minotauro at Cadiz, the Concepcion and
America at Ferrol, the San Carlos at Cartagena and the Glorioso
at Malaga. The aged ships lying in these harbours and considered to be useless
were to be broken up. The San Pedro de Alcantara at Cartagena and the
San Juan Baptisto and Argonaute de Castilla at Cadiz were to be
caulked. The condition of the 86-gun Entreprenonto and the 76-gun
Tridente on stocks at Ferrol was to be investigate as soon as possible. At
the same time were the keels to be laid down of a 40-gun frigate and 2 ships of
the line, one 3-decker and one of 74 guns. The 3-decker was to be named
Cortes, the 74-gun ship Buenos-Ayres and the frigate Admiraal
Gravina.
Note
1. The site 3decks.pbworks.com dealing with Naval Sailing
Warfare History 1650-1850 doesn’t mention any of the three latter ships. The
names of the ships mentioned in the note is Dutch spelling.
