 The second half of the 19th century brought to the Royal Dockyards of Ferrol not just plenty of work but social and political tensions which ended up in the failed republican uprising of 1872.Steamers between Ferrol and the port of Havana in Spanish Cuba were operating frequently, back then, so, shipyard workers who got themselves into trouble with the local authorities in Ferrol, for one reason or another always thought of the Spanish Main as a possibility.During this period, same as it is nowadays, and just like it was in the days of the Armada, the Bay of Ferrol always attracted and still attracts numerous ships seeking repairs or refuge after meeting with disaster or rough waters trying to cross the Bay of Biscay on bad weather.