José Romero y Fernández de Landa


José Romero y Fernández de Landa was a Spanish naval and army officer and the Spanish Navy's first official naval engineer and ship designer. He designed several two and three deck ships of the line in the late 18th and early 19th centuries which fought at the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar. He is also notable as the writer of Reglamento de maderas necesarias para la fábrica de los baxeles del Rey.

Life

On 27 May 1752 he joined the Regimiento de Dragones de Edimburgo at Villa de Arcos, commanding a company, but he moved to the navy in 1754. He rose 'alférez de fragata' and commanded the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of Marines at Ferrol.
On 1 November 1765 he started working at the shipyard at Guarnizo, under the designer Francisco Gautier. In October 1770, on the creation of the Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Marina, he was one of its few officials from the Cuerpo de Oficiales de Guerra to join the new body. He was 'capitán de fragata', Commandant of the Engineers and Engineer General, rising to Engineer General of the Fleet on 28 January 1786.

Warships designed by Landa

112-gun ships

74-gun ships

64 gun ships

The three 64-gun ships designed by Landa were an extension of his 74-gun designs, changing its main dimensions on a scale of α=49,5/52
Fecha de BotaduraNombre del NavíoAstillero
3 November 1787San FulgencioCartagena
27 November 1787San LeandroFerrol
27 June 1788San Pedro AlcántaraLa Habana

Frigates

Launch dateNameShipyard
12 March 1784Santa CasildaCartagena
4 March 1786Santa FlorentinaCartagena
3 May 1788Nuestra Señora de la SoledadCartagena
2 October 1789MahonesaMahón
31 July 1789PerlaCartagena
1791PreciosaCádiz