Cabo Quilates Explained

Spanish; Castilian: '''Cabo Quilates''' was a ship for passengers and cargo built by Spanish; Castilian: [[Euskalduna|Compañía Euskalduna de Construcción y Reparación de buques]] of Bilbao for in 1927.[1] In 1936, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, it was requisitioned as a prison ship.

History

It was named after Cape Quilates in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, now near Al Hoceima, Morocco.

On 25 September 1936, after the Nationalist air bombing of Bilbao, militias went to the Portu dock in Barakaldo at the Estuary of Bilbao where ships Spanish; Castilian: Cabo Quilates and Basque: Altuna Mendi held prisoners accused of siding with the Nationalists.The militias executed on the spot many of the prisoners.One of the dead was Fernando María de Ybarra, from the Ybarra family who had owned the ship.

Again on 2 October, Republican mariners from Spanish battleship Jaime I assaulted the prison ship.The Biscayan authorities ordered the battleship to leave the port of Bilbao and several of the attackers were also executed.[2] The number of victims of both assaults varies across sources.

After this, the ship is requisitioned by the Basque Government as Basque: Ibai and travels to the Americas several times to bring provisions for the Republicans.At the end of the war, it is taken by the Soviet merchant fleet as and later .After a fire, it is decommissioned.

After the war, a cross was built in Barakaldo remembering the victims.[3] The Barakaldo authorities decided in 2020 to substitute the Franco-era cross with informational panels according to the Historical Memory Law.[4] The cross was destroyed in 2022 by members of the Basque leftist youth group .[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ybarra (2) . www.buques.org . 15 July 2022 . es.
  2. Web site: Cortabarría Igartua . Germán . CABO QUILATES - Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia . Eusko Ikaskuntza . 15 July 2022 . es. It puts the Jaime I assault on 25th September.
  3. Web site: Buque-prisión Cabo Quilates . Visit Barakaldo . 15 July 2022 . es-ES.
  4. News: Barakaldo sustituirá la Cruz del Cabo Quilates de la Darsena de Portu por paneles sobre su historia y contexto . 15 July 2022 . Europa Press . 11 December 2020 . es-ES.
  5. News: Ernai derriba la cruz franquista de Barakaldo . 15 July 2022 . EITB . 22 March 2022 . es-ES.