From which navy was the cruiser "Reina Mercedes" captured by the USA in 1898?
Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundred years, and has had different meanings throughout this period. During the Age of Sail, the term "cruising" referred to certain kinds of missions – independent scouting, commerce protection, or raiding – fulfilled by a frigate or sloop, which were the "cruising warships" of a fleet. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers, and can usually perform several roles.
HMS Hyacinth (1898) HMS "Hyacinth" was one of three "Highflyer"-class protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Initially assigned to the Channel Fleet, she spent much of her early career as flagship for the East Indies Station. She was reduced to reserve in 1912 after a lengthy refit before becoming the flagship of the Cape of Good Hope Station in 1913. After the beginning of World War I in August 1914, she spent the first few months of the war escorting convoys around South Africa. In early 1915, she was deployed to German East Africa to blockade the German light cruiser SMS "Königsberg". She destroyed a German blockade runner attempting to bring supplies through the blockade in April and sank a German merchant vessel in early 1916. "Hyacinth" remained on the Cape Station for the rest of the war and was paid off in 1919, although she was not sold for scrap until 1923.