Matrix Games Forums

Partially about the ship was in Churruca topic - https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 1#p5262871

«Continuing the reforms of the fleet, on August 19, 1931, the government announced the creation of the 1st Squadron Division, consisting of the battleships España and Jaime I, and the cruisers Libertad, Almirante Cervera, and Miguel de Cervantes. However, this was more of a mockery of the old battleship, as it was located in El Ferrol with completely unusable engines, and any departure from the harbor as part of the division would only be possible by towing.»

During the civil war, despite its status (battleship), España was not the flagship of the Francoist fleet. The battleship operated exclusively in the north, avoiding encounters with significant Republican forces by remaining in the base.

Speed/engines
About the first mission (12-21 Aug, 1936):
“The commander's report indicated that the ship could reach a maximum speed of 13-14 knots, but for a very short period of time.”
Also. “On September 24, the Republican fleet arrived in the ports of Biscay, and the battleship's deployment had to be postponed. General Franco attempted to determine whether a general battle could be forced upon the Republicans, but the naval command issued a disappointing verdict. Although the newly commissioned cruiser Canarias had the most powerful 203-mm guns, they were the only force available. The Almirante Cervera's artillery was severely worn out, and the España was essentially a floating battery with a top speed of 14 knots, which would inevitably tie down the entire squadron. The Republican destroyers had no significant counter-measures. The Nationalist fleet required reorganization. The España and the Velasco formed the core of the Cantabrian Naval Forces, under the command of the Ferrol Naval District.”
There is nothing about that engine issues was fixed before the sinking.
(Jaime I also had such problems but not that serious)

Main caliber (305 mm)
On 12 Aug only two turrets (#1 and #4) were operational. To the “upgrade”, another tower had been put into operation, but only one gun. There is nothing about that others 3 guns was fixed. “However, the fifth large-caliber gun (in turret No. 3) was soon operational, but turret No. 2 was never restored.”

Secondary guns (102 mm)
On 12 Aug there was 12 guns. “They was gradually dismantled, with six guns being transferred to the cruiser Canarias, four to the auxiliary cruiser Domine in September 1936, and several more to the coastal battery in Ribadeo”. There is AP Domine in the game, maybe these guns was used for its ugrade.

“Upgrade”
«Upon returning to Ferrol (24 Oct 1936), four 88-mm AA guns and two 20-mm AA guns were installed on the battleship at a rapid pace. At the same time, the fifth main gun was put into operation.» Next mission started 29 Oct.

As summary:
revise speed, 305 mm guns, 102 mm guns and time (delay) of ugrade (it should be faster)
102 mm coastal battery for Ribadeo (if it doesn’t exist already)

Before throttling Espana's speed permanently, I would probably want to know more about why the engines were out, and why they weren't fully repaired IF she never regained speed

The Nationalists took her to sea in August 1936, which I am sure greatly delayed repairs; they may have been better off leaving her in-port. It might be they just never kept her in port long enough to fully repair because of the needs of war.

In-Game, it takes 5 months at least to repair the ship

It might make sense to disable 2 of the turrets at game-start

As I understand, since 1931 the ship was in a strange status "to upgrade or not", many various "devices" was removed. It also affected the engines. Next. There was events at start of the coup (translated here - https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 1#p5262871). During it some ship systems can be also additionally damaged by the crew.
In the game the ship has 2 main turrets (4 305 guns total) and later there is upgrade which adds 2 others turrets. But there can be a state when it was not possible to repair such parts (like technically).
These all based on the appendix to the magazine. Appendix name - N.V. Mityukov, Rafael Fernandez Del Carmen "España class battleships" / "Линкоры "типа Эспанья"" , 2004, 36 pages. Its series "Marine collection" / "Морская коллекция" for the magazine "Modeler-designer" / "Моделист-конструктор".

E.g. about "Jaime I".
No. 2.7. Report by Chief Naval Advisor N.G. Kuznetsov (alias Lepanto) to the RKKA's Intelligence Department about the state and work of the Navy of the opposing sides

As of November 21, 1936, the Spanish fleet consists of the following ships:
1. "Jaime I" has completed the overhaul of its machinery and is ready for service, but its maximum speed is 12 knots and can only be increased to 16 knots for a short period.

Dreamslayer wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2026 2:42 pm E.g. about "Jaime I".
No. 2.7. Report by Chief Naval Advisor N.G. Kuznetsov (alias Lepanto) to the RKKA's Intelligence Department about the state and work of the Navy of the opposing sides

As of November 21, 1936, the Spanish fleet consists of the following ships:
1. "Jaime I" has completed the overhaul of its machinery and is ready for service, but its maximum speed is 12 knots and can only be increased to 16 knots for a short period.

If you throttle the speed of Espana, sounds like there is a case to also throttle Jaime I, and make both of them max out at 16 knots speed

It is definitely true that these ships, by 1936, were old, and had outdated machinery.......there was a plan to replace it that was interrupted by the war

Q-Ball wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2026 6:11 pm If you throttle the speed of Espana, sounds like there is a case to also throttle Jaime I, and make both of them max out at 16 knots speed

It is definitely true that these ships, by 1936, were old, and had outdated machinery.......there was a plan to replace it that was interrupted by the war

Although both ships were approximately the same age, they were not in the same condition on July 1936. And because of its a old ships it can be difficult to get all suitable spare parts for various ship systems. So, its a difficult case.
The fact is - España operated only on the north but Jaime I was not so limited.