Sinking of Castillo de Olite

7 March 1939, Cartagena

Republican victory; Nationalist landing abandoned

Rebels against the Republican government seized Cartagena's coastal batteries and called on the Nationalists for help, and the Republican fleet left for Bizerte. The Nationalists sent a convoy of 16 ships with more than 20,000 troops from Castellón and Málaga. By the time it arrived, Republican troops had retaken the port and its batteries, and the convoy turned back. Castillo de Olite, her radio broken, never got the order and steamed on towards the harbour. The batteries sank her with 1,476 soldiers killed, the worst loss of life in any Spanish sinking.