of Castillo de Olite Franco had ordered troops to Cartagena in order to support the uprising, and the same day, two Nationalist transport ships arrived to support the rebellion, without knowing that the rebellion had been crushed. The shore batteries of Cartagena fired at close range and sunk one of them, . 1,225 soldiers died and 700 were taken prisoners. Aftermath The rebellion was crushed, but the Republican fleet didn't return to Cartagena and fled to Bizerte. The French authorities interned the ships and later handed them over to the Nationalists. Without the fleet the evacuation of Republican refugees was impossible. See also List of Spanish Republican military equipment of the Spanish Civil War List of Spanish Nationalist military equipment of the Spanish Civil War Notes References Beevor, Antony. The battle for Spain. The Spanish civil war, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. 2006. London. . Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. 2001. London. Further reading Viñas, Ángel; and Hernández Sánchez, Fernando. El Desplome de la República. Editorial Crítica. Barcelona. 2009. Battles of the Spanish Civil War 1939 in Spain Conflicts in 1939 History of Cartagena, Spain March 1939 events