by Germà Coenders
1/350 Castor (Scratchbuilt)
The spar torpedo is a relic of the past. It enjoyed a lot of success during the American Civil War. It was quickly superseded by the locomotive torpedo, although the French still used them against the Chinese Navy in 1884. In 1898 Spain still possessed one spar torpedo boat, Cástor, attached to the local defenses of Port Mahón in Menorca. She had been built at La Seyne, France in 1878. It is not necessary to say that this vessel did not play any role at all in the Spanish American War.
The model was built from scratch. The major sources I used were photographs and
drawings in:
Coello Lillo, Juan Luis (2001): Buques de la Armada española a través de la
fotografía (1849-1900).
Aguilera, Alfredo & Vicente Elias. (1972): Buques de Guerra Españoles (1885-1971).
2nd Edition.
Vital statistics
History: laid down 1877; launched: 1878; completed: 1878; decommissioned: 1900
Dimensions: length: 23.2m; beam: 3.0 m; draught 0.7m displacement: 23 tons
Armament: 1 Mac-Evoy spar torpedo.
Armor: none
Engines: 1 shaft compound; 265 hp; 18 knots (trials); 15 knots (actual)
