Spanish cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa in the war with Spain in 1898. Plaque donate by Jo Hayes Camp, Spanish War Veterans of Ottumwa". Spanish cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa Infanta María Teresa was the lead ship of her class of armoured cruiser constructed for the Spanish Navy. The ship fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War. "Infanta María Teresa" was built at Bilbao, northern Spain, to a design drawn up by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company of Jarrow, England. Her keel was laid in 1889, she was launched on 30 August 1890, and was completed in 1893. She had two funnels
Protected cruiser cruiser from the late 1880s till 1898. Second class protected cruisers were smaller, displacing 3,000–5,500 tons and were of value both in trade protection duties and scouting for the fleet. Third class cruisers were smaller, lacked a watertight double bottom, and were intended primarily for trade protection duties, though a few small cruisers were built for fleet scout roles or as "torpedo" cruisers during the "protected" era. The introduction of Krupp armour in six inch thickness rendered the "armoured" protection scheme more effective for the largest first class cruisers, and no large first class protected cruisers were built after 1898.