The cruiser served in the Philippines partly as a response to German protected cruisers and armoured ships appearing in the region. By spring 1898 her machinery was ashore for overhaul, leaving the ship immobilized off Cavite when war began. Her port battery and half her crew had also been transferred to the shore defences, so only the starboard guns remained operable aboard. American fire riddled the static hull at Manila Bay, and postwar inspection found her beyond salvage.
Chapter · 18:08-19:24
Don Antonio de Ulloa stripped at Cavite
See how machinery overhaul and a removed port battery left Don Antonio de Ulloa immobile and half-crewed when war arrived.