Compania de Filipinas


Compania de Filipinas was a Spanish steamship first operated by the Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas, and then converted by the nascent Philippine Navy as the flagship Filipinas.

History

In 1889, the steamship Compania de Filipinas was built by Lobnitz in Renfrew, Scotland, and was acquired by the Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas the following year. In 1898, while serving as an inter-island steamship, the Revolutionary Navy acquired her as their flagship. The Revolutionary Navy was initially composed of a small fleet of eight captured Spanish steam launches refitted with Gonzalez Hontoria de 9 cm guns, and then received a donation of five merchant ships, namely the Taaleño, the Balayan, the Bulusan, the Taal and the Purísima Concepción, prior to having the Filipinas. The acquisition was made possible by the Filipino crew of the ship, who launched a mutiny under the Cuban Vicente Catalan. Catalan, in turn, proclaimed himself "admiral." When the Filipino flag was hoisted by the ship, the East Asia Squadron contested it and claimed the ship for Germany. Despite an impending naval incident, the ship remained under Filipino control until the Philippine-American War proved the naval superiority of the American Asiatic Squadron and decimated the Revolutionary Navy. The vessel continued to be in the service of the Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas until 1942, when World War II opened in the Pacific theater. During the war, Compania de Filipinas was incorporated by the Japanese government to the nation's merchant marine as a cargo ship. She was renamed Hoei Maru. On 3 July 1945, it was sunk by an aerial mine near Jindo Island. While this ship was the only Hoei Maru that was a cargo ship, there are other Japanese vessels with the same name:
The tonnage of the Compania de Filipinas vary from 655 to 900 grt. It had one triple-expansion engine, a drive shaft, and a propeller. Her hull number is 342.