User:Valenciano/Berlin Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain - Prenzlauer Berg East

The Cabo Machichaco was a steamship built in 1882 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Originally called Benisaf, the ship was renamed in 1886 when the Ybarra company acquired the vessel. It was then used as a commercial ship between Bilbao and Seville with the first port of call being Santander. On 3 November 1883, dynamite that the ship was transporting exploded while the ship was in Santander port, resulting in 590 deaths and over 2,000 injuries.

Construction
The Benisaf was built in 1882. It had a length of 78.8 metres, a width of 10.2 meters and a depth of 5.9 meters. The Gross register tonnage and a Deadweight tonnage of 2,500 tonnes. The Compound engine drove a propeller and was developed by R & W Hawthorn & Co. Ltd. The engine power was 200 nominal horsepower. The ship was built in Schlesinger Davis & Co in Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne with the the yard number 121. It was launched in January 1882.

The disaster
Shortly before the tragedy, he ship was quarantined in Pedrosa Lazaretto due to several cases of cholera in Bilbao. On 3 November 1983, it was docked at the outgoing quay number 2 of Maliaño, located in front of the current Calderón de la Barca street. Among other goods on the ship, such as flour and steel, it also carried several bottles of sulphuric acid on deck and a little more than 51 tonnes of dynamite, which were not recorded by port authorities.