Numancia was named for the Siege of Numantia of 134–133 BC, the culminating event of the Numantine War, in which the native population of Hispania Citerior on the Iberian Peninsula resisted the forces of the Roman Republic.

[10] The Kingdom of Spain signed a contract in Madrid with the French company Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée on 15 April 1862 to construct Numancia.

[4] Numancia resumed her voyage on the afternoon of 4 February 1865, departing Cádiz at 16:00 with four boilers lit and with provisions for six months, 1,160 tons of coal, gunpowder and projectiles, and a crew of 590 men aboard.

[4] After refilling her coal bunkers, Numancia got back underway on 16 February 1865 to begin a transatlantic voyage,[4][10] initially encountering calm weather in which she made 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) under sail in light winds after turning off her engine.

[4] After they anchored for the night at Fortescue Bay, a warship flying no flag approached, and, given the political tensions in the area, Numancia prepared for action, her crew manning battle stations and loading her guns.

[4] America weighed anchor and departed very early on the morning of 20 April 1865, Numancia following at 07:00 and proceeding at full speed with eight boilers lit[4] in company with Marqués de la Victoria.

[4][10] After Méndez Núñez gathered information from the commanding officer of the screw corvette Vencedora, learning that Spain had reached an agreement with Peru to avoid war and that the Pacific Squadron was at Callao, Peru, Numancia got back underway and made a seven-day voyage in company with Marqués de la Victoria to Callao, anchoring there at 11:00 on 5 May 1865 after exchanging gun salutes with the Pacific Squadron flagship, the screw frigate Villa de Madrid.

News of the defeat prompted Pareja to commit suicide aboard his flagship, the screw frigate Villa de Madrid, off Valparaíso, shooting himself in his cabin on 28 November 1865 while lying on his bed wearing his dress uniform.

At some point during these operations — sources disagree on whether it was on 6 March[13] or on the afternoon of 9 March — Reina Blanca captured the Chilean sidewheel paddle steamer Paquete de Maule, which was bound from Lota, Chile, to Montevideo carrying naval personnel assigned to join the crews of the Peruvian ironclad turret ship Huáscar and broadside ironclad Independencia there;[14] sources disagree on the number of personnel aboard, claiming both a total of 134 men[13][14] and of eight officers and 140 enlisted men.

[10][19] Several days of negotiations began on 26 April, during which Méndez Núñez granted neutral countries a four-day delay in his attack to give them time to salvage their interests in Callao.

[10] Méndez Núñez was wounded on Numancia′s bridge, but only one shell penetrated Numancia′s armor; the teak wood underneath it absorbed much of the remaining force of the impact, which resulted merely in a few blown-out rivets and a small leak that her crew repaired quickly.

Most of the Spanish fleet, including Numancia, Vitoria, the armoured frigate Tetuán, Méndez Núñez (the former Resolución), Almansa, the paddle gunboats Fernando el Católico and Vigilante, the screw schooner Ferrolana, and other smaller ships sided with the Cantonalists.

[27] In addition to Numancia, which was under the command of a merchant captain, the Cantonal squadron included Tetuán, Méndez Núñez, and Despertador del Cantón (the former Fernando el Católico).

[26] The Cantonalist ships adopted a rhomboidal formation with Numancia in the lead, Méndez Núñez to port, Tetuán to starboard, and Despertador del Cantón bringing up the rear.

[26] Numancia cut through the centralist line between Diana and Almansa, then turned to starboard and crossed Carmén′s and Navas de Tolosa′s sterns as they fired at her, nearly all of their shots falling short.

[32] At the time, Chicarro's central government squadron was blockading Cartagena, with Vitoria and the armoured frigate Zaragoza in line ahead, Almansa and Carmén on either side, and Navas de Tolosa in reserve.

[32] The central government squadron captured Darro, but Numancia reached the open sea and made for French Algeria with 2,000 people aboard, including 1,635 Cantonalist rebels as passengers.

[10] Upon Numancia′s arrival at Sardinero in Santander, where the royal family spent the summer, Isabella II was received by her son King Alfonso XII while other warships, including Reina Blanca, attended Numancia.

[10] On 25 September 1877, King Alfonso XII began a series of voyages in the Mediterranean Sea aboard Numancia, escorted by Reina Blanca, Vitoria, and the screw corvette Africa.

During these voyages, the ships visited Alicante, Valencia, Tarragona, Barcelona, Rosas,[disambiguation needed] Mahón, Palma de Mallorca, Santa Pola, Almería, and Málaga.

[10][15] On the morning of 24 October 1879, Numancia departed Cartagena with King Alfonso XII and Queen Maria Cristina aboard for a voyage to Cádiz escorted by Reina Blanca and Villa de Madrid, the corvette Tornado, and the paddle gunboat Isabel la Católica.

[10] King Alfonso XII and Queen Maria Christina again visited the Training Squadron in September 1883 when it consisted of Numancia, Vitoria, Carmén, and the screw frigate Lealtad.

[10] King Alfonso XII and Queen Maria Christina embarked on Vitoria on 19 August 1884 for a voyage from Gijón to La Coruña and Ferrol escorted by Numancia, Carmén, Lealtad, and the gunboat Paz.

[10][36] The unprotected cruiser Navarra joined the squadron at Ferrol, they continued the journey along the coast of Spain until Alfonso XII and Maria Christina disembarked at Vigo on 25 August 1884.

[10] The Training Squadron — made up of Numancia, Vitoria, Lealtad, the screw frigate Gerona, Paz, Cástor, and the torpedo boat Rigel — anchored at Mahón on Menorca in the Balearic Islands on 18 March 1886.

In mid-January 1887, Numancia, serving as the flagship of the Training Squadron, made a Mediterranean cruise with Gerona and the unprotected cruiser Castilla during which the ships visited several ports.

[10] When the Spanish-American War broke out in April 1898 her conversion still was incomplete, but the merchant steamer Cabo de Naos towed her from Toulon to Barcelona to avoid her being interned by neutral France.

[10] The heavy losses the Spanish Navy had suffered in the war with the United States left it with a shortage of ships, and when Numancia reentered service she returned to the Training Squadron, in which she served with Vitoria, Pelayo, and the armored cruiser Emperador Carlos V.[10] Numancia′s armament again was altered in 1900.

[43] Numancia departed Tangier on 3 August,[10] proceeded to the Arsenal de la Carraca in San Fernando, Spain, and held a court martial in which stoker Antonio Sánchez Moya, the ringleader, was sentenced to death and either six or eight (according to different sources) other sailors to life imprisonment.

[40][41][44][45] At 09:00 on either 8 or 9 August 1911 (according to different sources) Sánchez was given communion and then immediately executed by firing squad in the presence of Minister of the Navy José Pidal Rebollo aboard Numancia outside the port of Cádiz.