Good afternoon, jbradford.
I´ve taken the text from the web page of "todoababor" and translate it with Google. Once reviewd and somewhat corrected this is the result. I hope is understandable...
Brigadier Don José de Bustamante y Guerra, being the military head of the square and province of Montevideo and the Río de la Plata squadron, obtained a subscription, among his wealthy migrant countrymen, to build a ship and give it to the king as a gift. It was baptized the Montañés "the mountainman" (Ferrol 1794), and added in the instance that for this purpose he raised, so that it was sent, especially in time of war and if there were "stocks", by a Cantabrian captain.
The Montañés was therefore built by Julián de Retamosa, successor to the famous José Romero Landa as a shipbuilder for the Navy. Based on Romero Landa's plans, he adjusted the weight of the ballast, refined the bows and reinforced the stern, achieving its perfection as a ship of the Spanish line in this ship, with the Neptune and the Argonaut being the ships of this class, being their properties sailing bowline, long or stern extraordinary and could be compared with advantage to the best foreigners.
Faster than her contemporaries, she reached 14 knots with fresh wind at a long and 10 close, being the normal 10 and 8 respectively. In addition, she perfectly kept her low battery, with a height above the waterline of 1.89 meters. Its first commander is the captain of the ship Don José Jordán, who after capturing the French frigate Efigenia managed to evade, during the war that Spain and other Western powers declared to revolutionary France, eight French ships (one of three bridges) and two frigates, managing to anchor in San Feliú de Guixols on March 30, where he had time to bow, and repel the attack that lasted 2h30 'where he fought at long distance with the ships that successively passed by his side and which was favorable to the Montañés, that came to shoot 1,100 projectiles.
The Spanish suffered only the loss of the constable and two sailors and several wounded. The French withdrew and returned to Menorca. On May 14, 1795, he arrived in Mahón, with the French prisoners that the "Efigenia" had from the captured frigate.
That same year, it was the insignia of the squadron of the Chief of Squad, Ignacio María de Álava, which was destined for the Philippines to reinforce the Spanish presence in the area, and which was made up of three ships and five frigates. On the voyage there were no sick people on board thanks to the clever dispositions of Álava and during the crossing of the Pacific the crews of the ships were continually exercised in the use of artillery, since they thought (correctly) that they were at war with England.
The ship was maintained, later, eight years with the main mission of harassing British trade in the seas of China. Although this work was not very prominent, the Spanish squad was perfectly prepared to fight the British if they had presented themselves, managing to make a deterrent to a hypothetical attack on the Philippines by them, who preferred to attack French positions, less strongly defended.
Alava once surprised two somewhat neglected British ships and a frigate off the coast of China near Canton. The English had to rig by chopping cables and abandoning boats and supplies. They were able to flee especially because the Montañés was leaking and had damage to the rigging. Then the English published that the two ships and the frigate had hunted the Spanish.
She returned in 1803 to Cádiz, where she would be off duty for repairs. In June 1805 it was decided to enlist it and in a record time of six and a half hours her hull was lined with copper. Her commander reports after arriving from Ferrol to Cádiz: "Since this ship left Ferrol, they began to fall ill with fever that the doctor characterizes as putrid and sinus. These have increased every day and today there are already 72, of which 31 have been in a state of convalescence, which It is attributed to the lack of clothing for their cleanliness and shelter, and although three individuals have died in these three days, one from the troop and the two from sailors, the surgeon does not judge that this disease is an epidemic. "
In Trafalgar he lost his two commanders, Don Francisco Alcedo and Don Antonio Castaños, but the Lieutenant Don Alejo Gutiérrez de Rubalcava managed to take him to the Bay of Cádiz, 20 crew members died and 29 were wounded. Once her breakdowns were repaired (February 25, 1806) she made several trips, landing in the Balearic and Canary Islands. In June 1808 she participated in the capture of the French Rosilly squad in Cádiz. Under the command of José Quevedo on May 1, 1809, the canned ship "San Lorenzo" and two Englishmen lead French prisoners to the Canary Islands, returning to Cádiz on September 18.
In December he left for Puerto Rico to take prisoners and inmates and collect funds.
It had its end in a violent storm in front of the bay of Cádiz being commanded by José Quevedo, on March 6, 1810. It was partially burned by the French, who were besieging the city, but it could be recovered, being sold at public auction on 12 March 1822.
Greetings
Jaime
