Flying Squadron ( United States Navy ) The Flying Squadron was a United States Navy force that operated in the Atlantic Ocean , the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies during the first half of the Spanish - American War . The squadron included many of America ' s most modern warships which engaged the Spanish in the Blockade of Cuba . Spanish - American War . Formation . In the spring of 1898 , tensions were rising between the United States and Spain over events in Cuba , particularly the explosion and sinking of the battleship USS " Maine " in Havana harbor . Although the U . S . Navy ' s leadership preferred to concentrate its fleet at Key West , Florida for operations against Cuba and Puerto Rico in the event of war , the American public and U . S . Government feared that a Spanish Navy squadron might cross the Atlantic from Spain and raid the East Coast of the United States . The political pressure to establish a visible naval defense of the East Coast forced the Navy to reorganize itself to address the public ' s concerns . Accordingly , in April 1898 , shortly before the outbreak of war , the Department of the Navy ordered the fleet to be divided . The heavy units of the U . S . fleet formed the North Atlantic Squadron , commanded by Rear Admiral William T . Sampson , which was concentrating at Key West . The new organizational scheme imposed by the Department of the Navy transferred about half of that squadron ' s ships to a new Flying Squadron under the command of Commodore Winfield S . Schley , consisting of battleship s " Texas " and " Massachusetts " , armored cruiser " Brooklyn " , protected cruiser s " Columbia " and " Minneapolis " , and several auxiliary cruisers ; Schley ' s flagship was " Brooklyn " . While the North Atlantic Squadron operated in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in support of the efforts of smaller U . S . ships blockading Cuba and Puerto Rico , the Flying Squadron would be based at Hampton Roads , Virginia , poised to defend the Atlantic coast against Spanish naval attack . Operations From Hampton Roads . The Spanish Navy ' s First Squadron , commanded by Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete , meanwhile began to concentrate at Sao Vicente in Portugal ' s Cape Verde Islands in April 1898 , where it was when war broke out later in the month . It sortied from Sao Vicente on 29 April 1898 , secretly bound for San Juan , Puerto Rico , which the U . S . Navy assumed was its destination . But Cervera ' s departure and the lack of information thereafter about his squadron ' s whereabouts caused a panic on the U . S . East Coast , where hysterical press reports of the potential devastation that Spanish naval guns could wreak on U . S . coastal cities fed people ' s fears . Against its wishes , the Navy recommissioned eight old monitor s of American Civil War vintage and questionable fighting value and deployed them in major ports , and the Flying Squadron was tied down at Hampton Roads until Cervera ' s location and intentions could be determined . The situation clarified on 10 May 1898 , when Cervera ' s ships appeared in the Caribbean off Martinique , seeking coal at Fort - de - France . With Cervera now firmly committed to the Caribbean , Schley was ordered to shift the Flying Squadron ' s base from Hampton Roads to Key West , from which base it could hunt actively for the Spanish squadron while Sampson ' s North Atlantic Squadron continued its overall blockade support mission in the theater . The Search for Cervera ' s Squadron . The Flying Squadron departed Hampton Roads for Key West on 13 May 1898 . Meanwhile , Cervera ' s quest for coal had forced him to move from Martinique to call at Willemstad in Curaçao . After he departed the latter island , the U . S . Department of the Navy received faulty intelligence information that Cervera had with him a number of cargo ships , leading the Navy Department to conclude that he was bound for Cienfuegos , a port on Cuba ' s south coast which was a good choice for unloading military supplies for Spanish forces . On 18 May 1898 , the Navy ordered Schley to blockade Cienfuegos , and the Flying Squadron sortied from Key West on this mission at 0700 hours on 19 May 1898 , arriving off Cienfuegos on the afternoon of 21 May 1898 . At 0700 hours on 19 May 1898 , two hours after the Flying Squadron left Key West , Cervera arrived undetected at Santiago de Cuba , on Cuba ' s southeastern coast , only an hour after the auxiliary cruiser USS " St . Louis " had reconnoitered the harbor , found it empty , reported Cervera ' s absence , and departed . Navy Department officials , aware of the report from " St . Louis " and still thinking that Cervera had cargo ships with him and was either at or en route Cienfuegos , doubted telegrams reporting his arrival at Santiago de Cuba . On 20 May 1898 , however , Secretary of the Navy John D . Long came across intelligence information that seemed to make the possibility of Cervera ' s presence at Santiago de Cuba more credible , and cabled Sampson at Key West with instructions to inform Schley accordingly . Sampson , who still thought that Cervera was at Cienfuegos and interpreted Long ' s cable as advisory rather than directive , ordered Schley and the Flying Squadron to continue to Cienfuegos and remain there . For his part , Schley , his squadron ' s view of Cienfuegos harbor apparently an obstructed one , could not confirm whether or not Cervera ' s squadron was at Cienfuegos . Correct information Schley received on 19 May 1898 from a passing neutral merchant ship that Cervera was at Santiago de Cuba was cancelled out by the same ship ' s false report that Cervera had departed Santiago de Cuba on 20 May . For all Schley knew , Cervera could have slipped into Cienfuegos sometime between 20 May 1898 and the Flying Squadron ' s arrival there the next afternoon . On 21 May 1898 , the Navy Department received intelligence information confirming that Cervera ' s ships were at Santiago de Cuba , and cabled Sampson at Key West . Sampson sent the information to Schley by despatch boat , which Schley received about 24 hours later , on 22 May 1898 . Sampson ' s orders , however , left much up to Schley ' s assessment of the situation at Cienfuegos ; Sampson told Schley to take the Flying Squadron to Santiago de Cuba " if " he was satisfied that Cervera indeed was not at Cienfuegos , something which Schley had not yet been able to confirm . Schley opted to keep the Flying Squadron off Cienfuegos . On 23 May 1898 , repeated light displays during the evening from the hills above Cienfuegos drew the attention of Flying Squadron lookouts . Not until the next day were they identified as secret signals from Cuban insurgents . Commander Bowman H . McCalla , captain of cruiser " Marblehead " went ashore on the morning of 24 May 1898 and learned from the insurgents that Cervera ' s squadron was at Santiago de Cuba . He returned to the squadron and informed Schley later that day . Schley , who still believed that Cervera might be at Cienfuegos , ordered the Flying Squadron to move to Santiago de Cuba to see if Cervera was there . At 0755 hours on 25 May 1898 , the Flying Squadron began its voyage to Santiago de Cuba , moving at a leisurely pace because of the low maximum speed of some of its ships . At 1725 hours on 26 May 1898 , it hove to 25 to 30 miles south of Santiago de Cuba to receive reports from cruisers that had been scouting the area . The commanding officer of one of them , Captain Charles D . Sigsbee of USS " St . Paul " , incorrectly reported that Cervera was not at Santiago de Cuba , based both on his own observation of the harbor over the past week and incorrect information gleaned from the captain of a Spanish collier " St . Paul " had intercepted . Sigsbee ' s report confirmed Schley ' s doubts about Cervera being at Santiago de Cuba , and at around 1800 hours Schley ordered the Flying Squadron to reverse course and steam westward south of Cuba , passing Cienfuegos en route Key West , where the squadron would coal . But at about 2000 hours , the conflict in Schley ' s mind between his own conviction that Cervera was at Cienfuegos and Sampson ' s orders to move to Santiago de Cuba led him to order the Flying Squadron to heave to once more . It drifted westward with the current overnight and all the next morning , some of the ships taking on coal . At 1200 hours on 27 May 1898 , Schley ordered it to resume its voyage to Key West . Abruptly , at 1325 hours , Schley had a change of heart , and ordered the Flying Squadron to again reverse course and steam east for Santiago de Cuba , off which it arrived at 1940 hours on 27 May 1898 . At dawn on 28 May 1898 , the Flying Squadron saw that the Spanish armored cruiser " Cristobal Colon " was anchored in the entrance channel under the guns of the harbor ' s coastal fortifications . This finally confirmed that Cervera ' s squadron , missing for 13 days since its departure from Curaçao , was at Santiago de Cuba . The Blockade of Santiago de Cuba . Schley sent word of Cervera ' s whereabouts to Samspon and the Flying Squadron established a blockade of Santiago de Cuba . On 30 May 1898 , Secretary Long ordered Schley to " hold on at all hazards " and informed him that Sampson had set out with units of the North Atlantic Squadron to reinforce the Flying Squadron . At 1400 hours on 31 May 1898 , Schley had the Flying Squadron make its first offensive move , sending battleships " Iowa " and " Massachusetts " and cruiser " New Orleans " in to bombard " Cristobal Colon " and the coastal forts . The two sides exchanged fire at the extreme range ( by 1898 standards ) of 7 , 000 yards ( 6 , 400 m ) without any results . The American ships ceased fire at about 1410 , although the Spanish continued firing until about 1500 . Sampson arrived on 1 June 1898 aboard his flagship , armored cruiser " New York " , bringing with him battleship " Oregon " , armed yacht " Mayflower " , and torpedo boat " Porter " of the North Atlantic Squadron . This created an awkward command arrangement in which Sampson , who had a substantive rank of captain in peacetime but a temporary rank of rear admiral during the war , became overall commander off Santiago de Cuba . Schley , who was a commodore and senior to Sampson in the Navy but temporarily of lower rank , became second - in - command . It also created a situation in which elements of two squadrons , North Atlantic and Flying , operated together off Santiago de Cuba under the two awkwardly juxtaposed flag officers . This led to friction and some confusion during the blockade . The blockade was to drag on for 37 days . But Sampson was more aggressive than Schley , and immediately set a plan in motion to block the harbor ' s entrance channel using collier USS " Merrimac " as a blockship . Attempted on 3 June 1898 , the plan went awry when " Merrimac " sank in a location that did not block passage through the harbor entrance . On 6 June 1898 , the blockading squadrons conducted a major bombardment of the coastal forts and Spanish ships in the harbor . Disbandment . During the blockade of Santiago de Cuba , a new Spanish threat arose in mid - June 1898 , when the Spanish Navy ' s 2nd Squadron , under Rear Admiral Manuel de Camara , left Spain for the Philippines to attack the U . S . Navy Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey there . To force Spain to recall Camara to Spanish waters , the Department of the Navy developed a plan for a U . S . Navy squadron to raid the Spanish coast . The plan to raid the Spanish coast lead to a reorganization of the U . S . fleet in which the Flying Squadron was abolished on 18 June 1898 . Schley was reassigned as commander of a new Second North Atlantic Squadron . The dissolution of the Flying Squadron made little practical difference in the waters off Santiago de Cuba , where the blockade would continue until 3 July 1898 with the ships of the former Flying Squadron on duty and Schley present as second - in - command of the blockade under Sampson . And , in the end , no raid on the Spanish coast ever took place ; Camara was recalled to Spain without reaching the Philippines after the disastrous defeat of Cervera ' s squadron in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba fifteen days after the Flying Squadron was dissolved . Postwar Evaluation . Schley was a respected naval officer with a good career behind him when he took command of the Flying Squadron , but his handling of the squadron in the Caribbean led to much criticism of him postwar . An inquiry blamed him for " vacillation , dilatoriness , and lack of enterprise " during his time off Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba , and his performance compared unfavorably with that of Sampson . Moreover , it was more the poor condition of Cervera ' s ships than Schley ' s actions which allowed the U . S . Navy to trap Cervera ' s squadron at Santiago de Cuba . An ugly postwar public battle with Sampson over who deserved credit for leading the U . S . fleet in its crushing victory over Cervera ' s squadron in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba after the Flying Squadron ' s dissolution did nothing to help Schley ' s reputation , and he retired in 1901 in some disgrace . For details please visit http : / / www . flyingsquadron . com / forums