Ramon Alonso R.

At Barcelona. She can be seen in the lower side. In the background was the Cabo de Buena Esperanza.         She was built as passenger and cargo vessel for a British shipping company as Montclair. She passed to Spanish flag in 1901 when bought by A. Folch y Cía., being renamed Jose Gallart. When in 1911 she was acquired by Naviera Pinillos was renamed Balmes, name that she kept when in 1928 she was sold to Compañía Transoceánica de Navegación. She was modified to cargo-only vessel, reducing the accomodation to the necessary for only crew and adding two holds, so she was left with four. She was renamed Ramon Alonso R., being the biggest ship that had this shipping company.
        In 1913, when she was still a passenger-cargo vessel owned by Naviera Pinillos, she suffered a fire on a trip from Havana to Cádiz that caused all her passengers to be transferred to another ship that came to her aid, which transported them to Bermuda. The fire could be controlled and the ship also managed to reach Bermuda, where she was repaired to be able to return to Spain.
        At the beginning of the Civil War she was at Barcelona and was under the control of the Republican Government. After several months she was arrested in Cardiff for documentation problems. When they were solved she was controlled by the Bando Nacional, under which she followed the whole war, although part of it she sailed camouflaged under Italian flag with the names of Ramoni and Pietri.
        In 1952, arriving at Antwerp and being already with tugboat, the towing line failed and she collided with another vessel. The crash caused her serious damages being necessary to ground her to avoid her sinking. She could be refloated and repaired at Antwerp. She was scrapped at Bilbao in 1959.

Shipyard/Year	A. MacMillan / 1898
Dead Weight	6,200	MT
Gross Register	4,017	GRT
Lenght	112.8	mtr
Breadth	14.0	mtr
Depth	7.8	mtr
Propulsion	Reciprocating triple expansion
Power	1,356	H.P.
Bought	1927	to
Owner	Cía. Transoceánica de Navegación
Scrapped	1959

Spanish version