Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete was a prominent Spanish naval officer with the rank of Almirante (admiral) who served in a number of high positions within the Spanish Navy and had fought in several wars during the 19th century. Having served in Morocco, the Philippines, and Cuba, he went on to be Spain's naval minister, chief of naval staff, naval attaché in London, the captain of several warships, and most notably, commander of the Cuba Squadron during the Spanish–American War. Although he believed that the Spanish Navy was suffering from multiple problems and that there was no chance for victory over the United States Navy, Cervera took command of the squadron and fought in a last stand during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
Pascual Cervera y Topete
Cervera's flagship, Infanta Maria Teresa, in 1895
Cervera in an engraving published in La Ilustración Española y Americana, 1893.
The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, the most famous being the discovery of America and the first global circumnavigation by Elcano. For several centuries, it played a crucial logistical role in the expansion and consolidation of the Spanish Empire, and defended a vast trade network across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe, and the Manila Galleon across the Pacific Ocean between the Philippines and the Americas.
The Battle of La Rochelle, 1372
Commemorative plaque at San Fernando's Panteón de los Marinos Ilustres, depicting a list of victories of the Armadas of Spain List of Victories Conquest of Majorca 1229 Conquest of Menorca 1232 Conquest of Ibiza 1234 Conquest of Seville 1248 Battle of Malta 1283 Combat of Sorrento 1284 Battle of Castellamare 1287 Battle of Cape St. Vincent 1337 Battle of La Rochelle 1371 Combat of Gibraltar 1407 Battle of La Rochelle 1419
The Battle of Lepanto, 1571
A 17th-century Spanish galleon