Floor and elevation plans of the gunboats designed by the Chief of Squadron don Antonio Barceló.
Identity statement area
Supplied Title:
Floor and elevation plans of the gunboats designed by the Chief of Squadron don Antonio Barceló.
Reference number:
MPD,16,70
Date of creation:
1779-11-11 , Algeciras (Cádiz, España)
Level of description:
Unidad Documental Simple_en
Reference code:
ES.47161.AGS//MPD,16,70
Context
Original Reference Number:
Procede de SMA,361
Name of the creator(s):
Name of other related agents:
Archivo General de Simancas (Valladolid, España) - Coleccionista
Content and Structure
Scope and Content:
Lieutenant-general Antonio Barceló y Pont de la Terra (1717-1797) stood out as corsair in the Mediterranean so much that he was commisioned as lieutenant of the Navy en 1753. He did develop a shining career after his successes in naval design –light vessels, xebecs and polaccas, to address the North African piracy and to became the backbone of the Mediterranean Spanish fleet–, but without the enthusiasm of his collegues due to his past career as corsair and not to have been follow an academic career inasmuch as all his promotion was obtained by his undoubtables war merits. In 1779 he was commisioned as commander of the siege fleet of Gibraltar and his experience with low draft, seaworthy vessels led him to develop the first gunboats in History: boats with iron-reinforced hulls, low draft and a single carronade, very effective by their mobility, the little surface they shown as target and their nightly use, the opposite advantages to the French engineer D’Arçon’s gun platforms, an easy target for the British artillery.
Conditions of Access and Use
General accessibility conditions:
©MCD. Archivos Estatales (España). La difusión de la información descriptiva y de las imágenes digitales de este documento ha sido autorizada por el titular de los derechos de propiedad intelectual exclusivamente para uso privado y para actividades de docencia e investigación. En ningún caso se autoriza su reproducción con finalidad lucrativa ni su distribución, comunicación pública y transformación por cualquier medio sin autorización expresa y por escrito del propietario.
Image accessibility condition:
Images/documents have no access restrictions
Language and Scripts:
Español (Alfabeto latino).
Related documentation
Medium/Archival Material:
Digitized 
Fuentes:
O'Donnell y Duque de Estrada, Hugo. Antonio Barceló y Pont de Terra. Real Academia de la Historia. [2019-02-27].
Notes
Notes:
This document was pre-selected for EUROPEAN DISCOVERIES: FROM THE NEW WORLD TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES, exhibition of the "European Digital Treasures" project, funded by the European Union's Creative Europe Programme.