Breaking Down the Coat of Arms of the Arsenal of Cartagena

The first definition we have of the word Arsenal dates back to its origins in the 18th century, where it is said to be “a set of buildings, both on land and in water, suitable for the construction and careening of ships, for their better conservation and protection, and also for all the supplies, ammunition, and goods needed for the same ships and other purposes of the Navy's service.”

Today, the latest edition of the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy defines the term Arsenal as “a military or private establishment where vessels are built, repaired, and maintained, and where the supplies and goods necessary to equip them are stored,” and between one definition and another, more than 250 years apart, the Ministry of Defense defines it as “A group of people, support means, and peripheral facilities of the Navy, organized permanently under a command, that within a facility or dispersed facilities, carry out logistical support activities for the naval force and installations.”

More specifically, in the case of the Arsenal of Cartagena, the concrete definition is “Logistical Support Base for ships and Navy installations in the Mediterranean, in the area between Almería and Girona, including the Balearic Islands.”

That said, we will mention that the strategic situation, combined with the particular geographical characteristics of the port of Cartagena, have justified since ancient times the fact that this city was a stop for Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, etc., although the stops of these ancient navigators were primarily within the commercial realm, starting from the reconquest of these lands by then Prince Alfonso, later Alfonso X the Wise, in 1245 for the Crown of Castile, when Cartagena began to be an important port for the politics of Spanish monarchs, especially as a reference port for ships going to suppress Berber incursions on our coasts.

These precedents and others that followed made various Kings of Spain begin to set their sights on Cartagena, which they began to consider a strategically important city, such as Charles I, who could personally confirm it as he was here in December 1541, or Philip II, who attempted to make Cartagena an impregnable city by fortifying the port and creating a gunpowder factory. Cartagena would also witness in 1609 the departure of more than 15,000 people to Berberia, following the publication of the decree expelling the Moriscos, and throughout the 17th century, support was provided here to warships going out to fight against the French. Similarly, it would be in that century, specifically in 1668, when Cartagena would become a place for wintering and repairing Galleys.

But it is from 1713, when Philip V initiated a policy of reforms that would generalize throughout the 18th century, during the reigns of his sons Ferdinand VI and Charles III. Among these reforms, he included that of the Royal Navy, for which he fundamentally relied on the support of his minister José Patiño, the true promoter of the creation of the Maritime Departments, whose main purpose was to unify the different fleets that until that moment wandered dispersed across various ports. Thus, broadly speaking, we can say that in those years, there were up to four Squadrons of Galleys in the Mediterranean (Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Genoa).

On the other hand, there was the Squadron of the Atlantic Ocean, which operated in the Atlantic, and those overseas. All the ships that made up these fleets were scattered across Spanish geography, and that fact alone made them weak, which is why the need to build Arsenals was considered, establishments where not only would new ships be built, but also where existing ones could regroup, be repaired, and equipped with all necessary supplies.

 Consequently, the Maritime Departments were to be established in Spain, with the birth date of the Cartagena one (originally called the Maritime Department of Levante) being a Royal Order dated July 5, 1728. Subsequently, it would be on February 20, 1731, under the reign of Philip V, the “official” start date of the construction works of the Arsenal, works that due to their magnitude would not conclude until 50 years later, in February 1782, during the reign of Charles III.

From then on, the Arsenal of Cartagena would have significant weight within the Navy, until at the beginning of the 19th century, as a result of the Battle of Trafalgar, the Navy was left practically without ships, not recovering until the mid-century, with the so-called “Isabeline period” when naval power was once again prioritized and consequently all Arsenals were strengthened. Regarding Cartagena, important reform works were undertaken (it should be noted that at that time the Arsenal was already 100 years old), works that would last about 17 years and would mark the beginning of what we could consider the second stage of the Arsenal as a whole.

After consulting various documents and barring error or omission, we dare to decipher it as follows:

If with this brief description we have answered the curiosity that some may have had about the meaning of the different parts that make up the coat of arms that presides over the clock tower of the Arsenal of Cartagena, we will consider the time spent well invested.

Fourteen sections that make up the coat of arms of the Arsenal of Cartagena

Coat of Arms of the Arsenal of Cartagena

Photos: archive and authorship of Diego Quevedo Carmona