PEDRO RUIZ DE LOIZAGA URIGOITIA (Guernica, 1906-1992)
Pedro Ruiz de Loizaga was a captain in the Merchant Navy and a member of the PNV and STV political parties. When the war broke out, he was embarked on a fishing boat. In December 1936, he was appointed as captain on the armed Bou trawler Iparreko-Izarra and was sent on coastal surveillance missions and to escort merchant ships. After the fall of Bilbao, he went first to Santoña and then to Santander, once the ship joined the Cantabrian Sea Naval Forces. When Santander was lost, he left for Gijón and then set sail for Le Verdon in September. He returned to the Republican-controlled zone and entered the Sea Carabineers with the rank of captain. He was given command of the motor sailing boat Margarita Taberner that worked the route between Levante and Catalonia. When the war ended, he sought shelter in France. Together with Captain Burgaña, he set sail for Venezuela in two steamships, Donibane and Bigarrena, with other Basque sailors, and continue to work there on the sea. He died in Bilbao.
