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- Navy:
- Philippine Revolutionary Navy, 1898-99
- Name:
- Marina Revolucionaria Filipina
- Career:
The Philippine Revolutionary Navy had its origins during the 1898 revolution against the Spanish. The navy was organised around eight steam launches taken in May-June from the Spanish ships sunk at Cavite, seven small steamers donated by their Filipino owners in June-July (Balayan, Batangas, Bulusan, Don Francisco, PurÃsima Concepción, Taal, Taaleño), one purchased in June to transport supplies from Hong Kong (Abbey), another one seized by her Filipino crew on 5 July (christened Filipinas, and later Luzón), and two Spanish river gunboats (Otálora, OceanÃa) and five steam launches (Covadonga, Orani, El Capitán, Suerte, Nueva Ecija) captured in the Laguna de Bay in August.
Most of the steamers were fitted with guns at the Cavite arsenal. They were used for shipping troops and supplies and spread the revolution to every island in the archipelago. The Bulusan was sunk by Spanish gunboats at Masbate in September 1898 and the Abbey captured by the US Navy on 24 September. In October, Admiral Dewey, the USN Commander in the Philippines, started confiscating steamers and launches flying the Filipino flag. There followed a naval blockade to limit further operations by these naval forces and open hostilities when the Philippine-American war broke out in February 1899. The Laguna de Bay flotilla was captured between April and July and the last steamer, Don Francisco, was tracked down and taken on 15 December, 1899, after US Marines took Olongapo, the Filipino navy yard.
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