Stories about people belonging to one profession or another are sometimes a kind of cut of the time when they lived, its morals and laws, an illustration of great and small events that somehow influenced the fate of these very people, and many others too. Earlier, I already published material with a story about one outstanding person - an officer of the Spanish Marine Corps, Don Jose Gonzalez Ontoria, an engineer, artilleryman, organizer and reformer who made a great contribution to the development of the Armada. Today, after a long break, I want to continue the cycle with publications about outstanding officers and admirals of the Armada Hispaniola. The cycle will cover the times from the 18th to the 19th centuries and will include not only military commanders, but also simply iconic figures, one way or another noted in history. Here you will not see any deep details, specific genealogies, detailed descriptions of battles - only biographies, which, if desired, can be easily found in the Spanish segment of the Internet, even in the same Wikipedia. But surprisingly little is said about these wonderful people in Russian, and therefore I consider it my duty to tell about them in more detail, translating publicly available information into a language that we understand. And I will start with the earliest of the personalities planned for the cycle - Don José Antonio de Gastaneta and Iturribalsaga.
In the service of the Habsburgs
Jose de Gastagneta was born in 1656, in the city of Motrico, in the Basque Country, into a family associated with the sea for many generations. His father, Francisco de Gastagneta, owned his own ship as part of the Indian Navy, whose ships carried goods between the colonies and the metropolis. Already at the age of 12, Jose, aboard a galleon, set off on his maiden voyage to India (i.e. America), from which he began his systematic training in maritime affairs. Combining theory and practice, Gastagneta studied the exact sciences like mathematics and astronomy, mastered the basics of navigational science, and began to get acquainted with the technologies of building ships. At the age of 16 on the ship "Aviso" he and his father went to the Mexican Veracruz, where the venerable Francisco died, and young Jose had to return home already commanding his own ship. Despite the fact that this was his first voyage as a captain of a ship, and the route was not the easiest, Jose first showed himself as a skillful and promising sailor - without any adventures "Aviso" returned home on time, and the ship's crew was imbued with respect for to the young lord Gastagnet, who, among other things, proved to be an excellent navigator. This is how the story of one of the most important characters in the history of the Armada of the 18th century began, who will have time to leave his mark on its development for many years to come.
At the age of 28, he was already a seasoned sailor who made 11 independent voyages to America, including very distant and difficult ones - to Argentina, to Tierra del Fuego and beyond Cape Horn. All of them were successful, brought him profit and reputation, and Gastagneta could have continued in the same spirit - but the soul of the sailor demanded more. In 1684 he joined the ranks of the Armada, underwent training, and two years later received the title of capitan de mar - that is, captain of the sea. It should be noted that such an act at the end of the 17th century was quite peculiar, since service in the Armada did not promise him great success and prospects - the Spanish navy during the reign of King Carlos II was in such a severe crisis that voices were heard that a little more - and he will disappear from the seas altogether. It's no joke - while the leading maritime powers had several dozen, or even up to hundreds of ships of the line that formed the core of the fleets of that time, Spain at the time of the death of the last Spanish Habsburg had only 8 (eight) such ships, and their condition was so sad that almost constantly 5 of them were undergoing repairs at the dock, or were in reserve! Even Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Denmark fared better. And it was at this time that Jose de Gastagneta became the next captain of the Armada. It is difficult to say what he was guided by - a patriotic impulse, hopes that the Spanish fleet would be revived, and again would be a thunderstorm of the seas, or something else. But the fact remains - having given up the dusty work of a private merchant, he entered the civil service in the Armada in very difficult times for her.
For Gastaneta, there was no ship for command in the Armada, therefore in 1687 he was assigned to Cantabria, to the royal shipyard in Colindres, where he supervised the construction of various ships. Here, for the first time, Don Jose's talent for shipbuilding was clearly manifested, because he not only knew the theory, but also knew how to use it in practice, and most importantly - having an inquisitive analytical mind, he immediately began to look for ways to improve the construction of ships, and wrote his first work on this topic - "Arte de fabricar Reales" (I will leave the titles of the works without translation), which considered the organization of works for the construction of warships. In 1691 he was transferred to Cadiz, where he also began commanding individual ships or small formations in the Mediterranean, interacting with the Anglo-Dutch allies in the war against France. Here he showed himself well enough to receive first a promotion to admiral, and then to real admiral (Almirante Real, Royal Admiral, rank at the end of the 17th century in Armada). In 1694-1695, he quite actively operated at sea, where he again showed his first talent, navigator, skillfully leading a convoy of ships under the noses of the French from Naples to Mahon, and also luring the detachment of the Comte de Tourville under the fortress guns. Also at this time he wrote and published in 1692 another book - "Norte de la Navegación hallado por el Cuadrante de Reducción." This work was entirely devoted to navigational affairs, and for the first time introduced the use of an improved quadrant instrument, which would later be modernized and introduced after 1721 around the world as a sextant, and the discoverers' rights would be assigned to the Englishmen John Hadley and Thomas Godfrey. By 1697, almost the entire Armada had switched to using the Gastaneta quadrant, which simplified navigation, and Gastaneta himself was considered an outstanding sailor and was respected not only at home, but also abroad. He did not have a chance to rest on his laurels - in 1700-1701 he went to New Granada, and was responsible for the ouster of Scottish colonists who tried to settle on the shores of the Darien Gulf, thereby threatening Spain's sovereignty over the region. He did not have to do this for a long time - at the beginning of 1701, disturbing news came from the metropolis: King Carlos II died childless, and now there is a war between two contenders, Felipe de Bourbon and Carlos Habsburg. Jose Antonio de Gastagneta immediately returned home and swore allegiance to the Frenchman. From that moment on, the most active and significant period of his life began.
Admiral Bourbons
Since the Spanish shipbuilding was in deep decline along with the Armada, and both ships and sailors were needed for the needs of the war, Gastagnet, as one of the most authoritative commanders of the Armada, with experience in the necessary fields, was appointed responsible for the revival of this industry. In 1702, he became superintendent of the factories and plantations of Cantabria, establishing there the shipyards of Guarniso near Santander, next to which the village of El Astillero grew. From that moment, Jose Antonio de Gastagneta began to systematically build what Spain can rightfully be proud of in the future - a well-organized centralized shipbuilding, with a wide use of standardized elements. In addition to the Guarniso shipyards, he also founded a number of businesses on the Sorrosa, Orio and Pasejas rivers in the Basque Country. Don Gastagneta was also responsible for the defense of the shores of the Bay of Biscay, and became the mayor of Motrico, concentrating power in many areas of life in the entire northern region of Spain. In 1712, he published a major treatise "Proporción de las medidas arregladas a la construcción de un bajel de guerra de setenta codos de quilla", which described all the nuances and preparatory work required to organize an efficient shipbuilding. It addressed, among other things, such important issues as the correct harvesting, drying and processing of wood. This treatise immediately began to be distributed throughout Spain, although problems arose with the implementation of all the processes described in it.
Events in Europe soon forced Don José Antonio Gastagneta to return to the active fleet and lead it. Philip V, having finally established himself in Spain at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, began to pursue an active foreign policy, which meant, among other things, wars with opponents. One of his global plans was the creation of satellite states around Spain, which will be ruled by the children from his marriage to Isabella Farnese, a very bright and politically active woman from Parma. In preparation for war, Gastaneta had to travel to Holland in 1717 to negotiate the purchase of ships there, and then led the invasion fleet of Sicily. The landing was successful, a flotilla of 23 warships (battleships and frigates) were parked at Passaro when the British fleet (22 ships) under the command of Admiral George Byng arrived there. Despite the political tension, the war between Spain and Great Britain was not declared, therefore, no special reaction followed to the appearance of aliens, and in vain - despite the peace between the two states, Byng fell upon the Spaniards, and made a uniform massacre. Two ships were sunk, 11 were captured by the British and taken away as prizes, four ships and frigates managed to escape. The main forces of the Armada were defeated, Admiral Gastagneta was captured. Only four months later, the War of the Quadruple Alliance began, which two years later ended with the defeat of Spain. Gastaneta himself from major problems due to the battle at Passaro was saved by the fact that he and his ship fought bravely, the admiral was seriously wounded in the leg, and the British made their attack treacherously, without declaring war - which, however, could have been predicted knowing the character of the British themselves.
Soon, 62-year-old Don Jose Antonio returned from captivity, but due to injury and age left the active fleet for some time, returning to shipbuilding issues. In 1720, his new large-scale treatise, "Proporciones de las medidas más esenciales para la fábrica de navíos y fragatas", was published, which dealt directly with the theory of the ship - which contours are better suited for certain purposes, what is the ratio of length to width that battleships should have and frigates, how best to build them, etc. Together with the rest of the works, a system was formed, which in 1721 was recognized as mandatory by a special royal decree, and soon after that, certain elements of the created system began to be used not only in Spain itself, but also abroad. After that, Gastagneta returned to the active fleet again, becoming one of the admirals of the Indian Navy, who was responsible for transporting colonial wealth to the metropolis. During the next war with Great Britain, in 1726-1727, using his skills as a navigator, he skillfully led a convoy of gold and silver under the nose of the English fleet for a total value of 31 million pesos, and at some point he had to literally break through the patrols Englishmen in the middle of the night, but they could not even find the Spaniards who freely reached the shores of Galicia. Upon learning of this, the king was delighted, and granted a life pension of 1,000 ducats a year to the admiral himself, and 1,500 ducats a year to his son Jose Antonio. However, Gastaneta did not receive news of this - being at a very respectable age (71 years old), he died in Madrid on February 5, 1728, shortly after his return from the Indies.
Heritage
As an admiral, don José Antonio de Gastagneta showed himself quite peculiar. He lost the only major naval battle with the enemy (at Passaro), but it was hardly his fault here, because the British attacked without declaring war, and, strictly speaking, with a numerical equality of forces, they had more guns, and better trained crews. The latter was generally extremely remarkable - in an era when everything was decided by an artillery battle, the Spaniards "lagged behind", still doing boarding, and the consequences of the country's decline during the last Habsburg led to the fact that there were not so many good sailors, so even if Gastagneta was ready for battle, the outcome would still be sad. But, at the same time, it cannot be said that as a naval commander he was bad - on the contrary, showing himself as an excellent navigator and a master of maneuvering actions, he was also clearly an excellent organizer, so what knowledge in navigation could not have saved his squadrons if the ships failed to float. Meanwhile, actions in the Mediterranean Sea and on the way from the Indies say the opposite - the fleets under the command of Gastaneta acted quite decisively, as a whole, clearly carrying out the orders of their admiral, which can also be credited to him.
But no achievements in the field of commanding the fleets can cover the contribution that Gastagnet made to the development of shipbuilding in Spain. Finding it practically in ruins, this inventive Biscacian laid the foundation for its magnificent revival, which took place in the second half of the 18th century. The Guarniso shipyards founded by him during the entire period of their work put into operation 37 ships, not counting small ships, and it was on them that the Real Felipe was built - the first three-deck ship in the history of the state, which was designed according to the precepts of Gastaneta himself. These covenants themselves were formalized into one specific system, which clearly defined how to store materials for building ships, how to store and process them, what characteristics the ships should have, what is the ratio of length to width, etc. - in short, it was a whole set of laws for shipbuilding, the "Shipbuilder's Bible", following which it was possible to build beautiful ships, which the Spaniards later did. He also laid in the design of Spanish ships what later became the "highlight" of the Armada - excellent onboard protection of ships, up to four layers of oak or mahogany, up to a meter thick, and even more, as a result of which it was sometimes impossible to pierce the sides of Spanish ships even with fire close to the heaviest cannons. In addition, a well-developed and standardized shipbuilding system made it possible to build ships not only cheaper and of better quality, but also faster - in particular, thanks to the "Gastaneta system" in Ferrol, they could build frigates in a few months after the order was issued, serially and in large quantities, and, most importantly - cheap. True, this was achieved after the death of Gastaneta himself - it took too much time to set up the entire infrastructure, work out the nuances of the mechanism, develop practical skills, and train personnel. The same "Real Felipe", being an excellent ship according to the project, and quite well built, due to the lack of timber, which was poorly prepared and stored, already a couple of years after entry into service began to leak and dry out - which, however, did not prevent it serve quite respectable for its time 18 years. In fact, all subsequent shipbuilding in Spain was built on the work of Gastaneta, and abroad his developments were used and appreciated.
In Motriko, his hometown, Gastagneta built a manor house, where his descendants then lived. One of them turned out to be a modest and very intelligent boy who, inspired by stories about his ancestor, also went to serve in the Armada and achieved impressive achievements during his service, in many ways repeating the path of Gastagneta as an organizer and analyst. But he was not heard by the authorities and died in the Battle of Trafalgar. The name of this boy is Cosme Damian Churruka and Elorsa, and his figure has left such a big mark on the history of Armada that he needs to devote a separate article. This means that the story is not over yet.
