Model of the 112-gun 3-decker ship Santa Ana

This model is a fine-line armored ship, fully rigged and festooned with all its flags. It has a complete hull and 3 reinforcement wales below the gunwales, and 4 vertical reinforcements in the center. The semi-circular shapes leading to the officers’ toilets can be seen protruding from the forecastle front. Two doors lead from the interior of the ship to the grilles on the prow where the crew’s toilets were located, protected by the rail around the upper prow timber. The figurehead is a crowned lion, made in accordance with the Royal Order of 1753. The model is painted in a variety of colors. The freeboard, the part of the hull that lies below the waterline, is painted white and the topside is painted with black and yellow stripes.

The Santa Ana was built in 1783. It was the flagship of a series that formed the backbone of the Spanish navy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. One year earlier, José Joaquín Romero y Fernández de Landa was appointed interim engineer general following the resignation of François Gautier, and tasked with introducing the necessary modifications to shipbuilding systems to resolve the issues highlighted in various reports. The ship was built by the engineer Miguel de la Puente and launched on September 29, 1784. The Santa Ana took part in the Battle of Trafalgar under the flag of Lieutenant General Domingo Pérez de Grandallana, a subordinate of General José de Mazarredo who was in charge of the Navy of the Ocean based in Cádiz. On the nights of July 3 and 5, the boats and crew of the Santa Ana, together with the rest of the gunboats, came together to repel attacks by Nelson’s units, whose was set on bombarding the city. During the battle, it was commanded by Captain Gardoqui, under the flag of Admiral Ignacio M. de Álava. In 1810 a Royal Order decreed that ships that could not be made ready for battle should be taken to a safe place. The ships Príncipe de Asturias and Santa Ana were therefore prepared to be taken to Havana, where Santa Ana eventually sank in 1817.

The model features on the list of items sent to the Naval Museum on September 28, 1846 by José Fermín Pavía, General Commander of the department at Cartagena.