Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Battle of Santiago de Cuba , fought between Spain and the United States on July 3 , 1898 , was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish - American War and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Navy ' s Caribbean Squadron . Background . Spanish Fleet . The Spanish realized that the war would be decided by the campaign in Cuba . Even before the opening of hostilities , Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete had been dispatched from Spain with the ultimate destination of Cuba . At best , the Spanish hoped to show the flag in their largest remaining New World colony ; at worst , they hoped to have a force prepared to meet the powerful U . S . Navy . There were striking contrasts between Cervera ' s squadron and the squadron lost by Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippine Islands on May 1 , 1898 . Montojo ' s squadron had been composed of obsolete ships primarily meant for revenue collection , while Cervera ' s squadron was composed of many modern warships , all of which were only a few years old at the time of this battle . Montojo ' s squadron had virtually no torpedo - launching capability , while Cervera brought with him the destroyer s , and , three of the most advanced torpedo - armed warships in the world at the time . This destroyer flotilla was commanded by Captain Fernando Villaamil , well known as the originator of the destroyer concept . Montojo ' s squadron was almost entirely unarmored , while nearly all of Cervera ' s warships were protected by armor of some kind . However , it is evident from the records of the time and from Cervera ' s own writings that the Spanish admiral had the feeling that he was sailing to his doom . The breech mechanisms in many of the Spanish guns were dangerously faulty , causing jams and other mishaps . Many of the ships ' boilers were in need of repair ; several ships , including the armored cruiser , desperately needed bottom - cleaning as they were suffering from extra drag due to fouling . Worse yet , many of the gun crews were out of practice , having little experience with firing live rounds due to naval budget cuts since the Rif War in 1893 - 1894 and funding priority given to the Spanish Army . The most well - protected ship in Cervera ' s fleet , the second - generation armored cruiser , had not even had her main battery installed and carried wooden dummy guns instead . Early in the year , Cervera had attempted to convince the Naval Ministry , a bureaucratic body responsible for governing Spain ' s admiralty , that the best strategy lay in resisting the Americans near the Canary Islands . Here , the fleet could be repainted , recoaled , and overhauled . It would then lie within range of the vast reserves of ammunition established in Spain and the firepower of the " Home Squadron " . Cervera argued that he could then meet the U . S . fleet and destroy it . This strategy was endorsed by every officer under his command and many in the " Home Squadron " , but was rejected by the Admiralty . Cervera ' s own misgivings reveal the seriousness of the situation faced : On April 30 , Cervera set steam from Cape Verde , and panic gripped the U . S . populace , who did not know what his ships might do : attack the largely undefended East Coast while the fleet sailed about in an effort to engage him , prey upon American shipping , or perhaps sail up the Potomac and set fire to Washington , D . C . Cervera managed to evade the U . S . fleet for several weeks , confounding his American counterparts and managing to re - coal in the process . Meanwhile Villaamil , who was in disagreement with both the Spanish Government ' s shaky war direction and Cervera ' s rather passive strategy , advocated trying to offset the superiority of the American forces by scattering the fleet and taking the initiative through quick and dispersed actions ; he even volunteered to lead a diversionary attack to New York with his destroyers , but his proposals were not accepted . Finally , on May 29 , after several misadventures , " Cristóbal Colón " was spotted in the harbor at Santiago de Cuba by an American squadron . American Fleet . With the exception of Commodore George Dewey ' s squadron in the Pacific , nearly every warship in the United States Navy was near or on its way to Cuba . Only a handful of reactivated American Civil War era monitors and cutter s of the United States Revenue Cutter Service remained to defend the U . S . coastline . The primary elements of the U . S . force in Cuban waters were divided between two men : Rear Admiral William T . Sampson of the North Atlantic Squadron and Commodore Winfield Scott Schley and the " Flying Squadron " . On the morning of May 29 , Cervera ' s squadron was sighted inside the safety of Santiago Bay , Cuba , by elements of the " Flying Squadron " . On May 31 , Schley was joined by Sampson , who took command of the situation and instructed a general blockade . Stand - off in Santiago Harbor . So long as Cervera remained within Santiago Harbor , his fleet was relatively safe . The guns of the city were quite sufficient to make up for deficiencies in his own , and the area was well defended with sea mines , torpedo es and other obstructions . Nevertheless , Cervera was terribly outmatched . Though his ships were modern , they were too few , and their technical problems compounded his worries . The failure of Cuba ' s governor to assist with the repairs of the vessels in Cervera ' s squadron made the situation all the more desperate . For more than a month , the two fleets faced off , with only a few inconclusive skirmishes resulting . For his part , Cervera was content to wait , hoping for bad weather to scatter the Americans so that he could make a run to a position more favorable for engaging the enemy . However , U . S . land forces began to drive on Santiago de Cuba , and by the end of June 1898 , Cervera found himself unable to remain safely in the harbor . He would have to break out immediately if the fleet was to be saved . The breakout was planned for 09 : 00 on Sunday , July 3 . This seemed the most logical time : the Americans would be at religious services , and waiting until night would only serve to make the escape that much more treacherous . By noon on Saturday , July 2 , the fleet had a full head of steam and had fallen into position for the breakout . At about 08 : 45 , just as his ships had slipped their moorings , Admiral Sampson and two ships of his command , his flagship , the armored cruiser , and the torpedo boat had left their positions for a trip to Siboney and a meeting with Major General William Shafter of the U . S . Army . This opened a gap in the western portion of the American blockade line , leaving a window for Cervera . Sampson ' s " New York " was one of only two ships in the squadron fast enough to catch Cervera if he managed to break through the blockade . Further , the battleship had left that morning to coal . With the departure of Admiral Sampson , who had signaled " Disregard movements of flagship , " immediate command devolved to Commodore Schley in armored cruiser , which now became the " de facto " flagship of the U . S . blockade . Thus , the American blockade formation that morning consisted of Schley ' s " Brooklyn " , followed by the battleships , , and and auxiliary cruiser s and . At 09 : 35 , the navigator of " Brooklyn " sighted a plume of smoke coming from the mouth of the port . He anxiously signaled the rest of the fleet : Battle . The Spanish ships began their race from the mouth of Santiago Bay at about 09 : 45 , traveling in a rough line ahead formation . In the lead was Cervera ' s flagship , the armored cruiser , followed by the armored cruisers " Vizcaya " , " Cristóbal Colón " , and , and finally the torpedo - boat destroyer s and . The four cruisers immediately cut in a southwest direction , attempting to break into the open sea before the U . S . blockading force could respond . The battle commenced almost immediately , the first shots being fired by Cervera ' s " Infanta Maria Teresa " as she strove to gain the western gap in the blockade line before " Brooklyn " could close it . While the Spanish had taken the initiative by beginning the engagement , two factors slowed their escape . The first was the continuing problem experienced in maintaining proper speed by " Vizcaya " ; the second was the poor quality of most of the coal in the Spanish holds . An expected re - supply of high - quality Cardiff coal from Britain had been captured , along with its transport , by the American auxiliary cruiser on May 25 . Upon sighting the emerging Spanish ships , the American blockaders had to turn to the south since they had all been facing towards the harbor entrance . " Brooklyn " headed nearly straight for " Infanta Maria Teresa " at first , but when it appeared that she would be surrounded by all four of the Spanish cruisers , Commodore Schley ordered a " retrograde loop " that pulled her away , and then alongside , the line of Spanish ships fleeing southwest . This maneuver has been controversial ever since , because in the fog of battle generated by the guns and ships ( the wind blowing towards the Americans ) , it seemed to threaten " Texas " with collision and Captain Philip of the Texas ordered her to reverse engines for six minutes brought the Texas to a near standstill until the Brooklyn passed across the Texas ' bow . " Texas " then swung behind " Brooklyn " but " Oregon " then ran up on the " Texas " and passed inboard masking the Texas ' fire . " Oregon " , initially to the rear of the action but the fastest ship in the U . S . fleet , soon raced past " Indiana " , which had an engine problem and could make only at the time of the battle . " Iowa " had started from a disadvantaged position and was passed by " Infanta Maria Teresa " but hit her with two rounds from and swung into the chase . As " Iowa " was passed in turn by " Cristóbal Colón " , the Spanish ship hit her with two shots from her secondary battery . One of these , struck near the waterline and caused " Iowa " to slow and she therefore engaged " Almirante Oquendo " , bringing up the rear of Cervera ' s four cruisers . Rather than expose the entirety of his fleet to the American battle line , Cervera had signaled his other ships to continue to the southwest while he attempted to cover their escape , directly engaging " Brooklyn , " his nearest enemy . Though " Brooklyn " was hit more than 20 times during the battle , she suffered only two casualties , while her return fire resulted in the deaths of most of Cervera ' s bridge crew and grave damage to the ship generally . Under this brutal punishment , " Infanta Maria Teresa " began to burn furiously . Cervera ordered her aground in shallows along the Cuban coast , by which time she was completely wrecked and aflame . Admiral Cervera survived and was rescued , picked up near Punta Cabrera by the crew of " Gloucester " . The rest of the Spanish fleet continued its race for the open sea . " Almirante Oquendo " was hit repeatedly by " Iowa " and driven out of the battle by the premature detonation of a shell stuck in a defective breech - block mechanism of an turret . A boiler explosion finished her , and she was ordered scuttled by her mortally wounded Captain Lazaga . " Pluton " and " Furor " made a dash in a direction opposite the rest of the Spanish squadron . At first taken under light fire by " Gloucester " and then , fatally , by shelling from the battleships " Iowa " , " Indiana " , and eventually " New York " , commanded by Rear Admiral Sampson who had turned his flagship around and was racing to join the fight . " Furor " was sunk before making the beach , with the lifeless body of her commander Villaamil and several of his sea - fellows ; " Pluton " succeeded in grounding herself but blew up . " Vizcaya " , was locked in a running gun duel for nearly an hour with " Brooklyn " . Despite steaming side - by - side with Schley ' s flagship at about and even with some good shooting which knocked out a secondary gun aboard " Brooklyn " , almost none of the Spaniards ' nearly 300 shots caused significant damage , while " Brooklyn " pounded " Vizcaya " with effectiveness . Subsequent claims by Admiral Cervera , and later research by historians , have suggested that nearly 85 % of the Spanish ammunition at Santiago was utterly useless , either defective or simply filled with sawdust as a cost - saving measure for practice firing . The American ammunition had no such issues of lethality . " Vizcaya " continued the fight until overwhelmed , and by the end of the engagement she had been struck as many as 200 times by the fire from " Brooklyn " and " Texas " . " Brooklyn " had closed to within when she finally delivered a round which , according to witnesses , may have detonated a torpedo being prepared for launch . A huge explosion ensued , " Vizcaya " ceased to be militarily effective , and fires raged out of control . She hauled down her flag and turned toward the beach to ground herself . Within a little more than an hour , five of the six ships of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron had been destroyed or forced aground . Only one vessel , the speedy new armored cruiser " Cristóbal Colón " , still survived , steaming as fast as she could for the west and freedom . Though modern in every respect and possibly the fastest ship in either fleet , " Cristóbal Colón " had one serious problem : She had been only recently purchased from Italy , and her main armament was not yet installed because of a contractual issue with the British firm of Armstrong . She therefore sailed with empty main turrets , albeit retaining her ten secondary battery . This day , speed was her primary defense . At her best rate of nearly , " Cristóbal Colón " slowly distanced herself from the pursuing U . S . fleet . Her closest antagonist , USS " Brooklyn " , had begun the battle with just two of her four engines coupled , because of her long stay on the blockade line , and could manage barely while building steam . As " Brooklyn " ineffectively fired rounds at the rapidly disappearing " Cristóbal Colón " , there was only one ship in the U . S . fleet with a chance of maintaining the pursuit , the " Oregon " . For 65 minutes , " Oregon " pursued " Cristóbal Colón " . " Cristóbal Colón " had to hug the coast and was unable to turn toward the open sea because " Oregon " was standing out about from " Cristóbal Colón " s course and would have been able to fatally close the gap had " Cristóbal Colón " turned to a more southerly course . Finally , three factors converged to end the chase : First , " Cristóbal Colón " had run through her supply of high - quality Cardiff coal and was forced to begin using an inferior grade obtained from Spanish reserves in Cuba . Second , a peninsula jutting out from the coastline would soon force her to turn south , across " Oregon " s path . And third , on the flagship " Brooklyn " , Commodore Schley signaled " Oregon " s Captain Charles Clark to open fire . Despite the immense range still separating " Oregon " and " Cristóbal Colón " , " Oregon " s forward turret launched a pair of shells which bracketed " Cristóbal Colón " s wake just astern of the ship . Captain Emilio Diaz Moreu , declining to see his crew killed to no purpose , abruptly turned the undamaged " Cristóbal Colón " toward the mouth of the Tarquino River and ordered the scuttle valves opened and the colors struck as she grounded . His descending flag marked the end of Spain ' s naval power in the New World . As the ships of the U . S . fleet pushed through the carnage , rescuing as many Spanish survivors as possible , an officer was fished out by sailors of " Iowa . " This man proved to be Captain Don Antonio Eulate of " Vizcaya " . He thanked his rescuers and presented his sword to Captain Robley Evans , who handed it back as an act of chivalry . Aftermath . The battle was the end of any noteworthy Spanish naval presence in the New World . It forced Spain to re - assess its strategy in Cuba and resulted in an ever - tightening blockade of the island . While fighting continued until August , when the Treaty of Paris was signed , all surviving Spanish capital ships were now husbanded to defend their homeland leaving only isolated units of auxiliary vessels to defend the coast . Uncontested U . S . control of the seas around Cuba made resupply of the Spanish garrison impossible and its surrender inevitable . The U . S . ships at Santiago , for their part , suffered many hits in the battle but very little serious damage . The small armed yacht " Vixen " was nearly sunk , but casualties on the American side of the affair were remarkably light ; only one man was killed , Yeoman George Henry Ellis of Brooklyn . Spanish casualties numbered nearly 500 , including Captain Villaamil of " Furor " , the highest - ranking Spanish officer to lose his life in the battle . All six vessels of the Spanish squadron were lost . The 1 , 612 Spanish sailors rescued , including Admiral Cervera , were sent to Seavey ' s Island at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery , Maine , where they were confined at Camp Long from July 11 , 1898 until mid - September 1898 . In the aftermath of the battle , General Chambers McKibbin , originally of Chambersburg , Pennsylvania , was selected as Military Governor of the City of Santiago de Cuba . Two of the Spanish ships , " Infanta Maria Teresa " and " Cristóbal Colón " , were later re - floated and taken over by the U . S . Both eventually foundered and were lost . The , abandoned in Santiago Bay because of engine troubles , was an unprotected cruiser captured by the U . S . Navy and used as a receiving ship until 1957 as the . All of the various flags , warship pennants , national combat flags , the royal standard , admirals ' flags and so on retrieved from the Spanish ships in the days following the battle , are part of the United States Navy Trophy Flag Collection at the U . S . Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis , Maryland . The collection was given to the care of the U . S . Naval Academy by an act of Congress in 1849 . In 1998 , in recognition of the hundredth anniversary of the battle and the Spanish - American War , the U . S . Secretary of the Navy authorized the return of the National Combat Flag from the Spanish flagship " Infanta Maria Teresa " to the Spanish Navy via their Chief of Staff , who was to meet with the U . S . Navy Chief of Naval Operations in Newport , Rhode Island . However , the return of the flag was aborted when the curator of the Naval Academy Museum , citing the congressional language from 1849 , refused to surrender the banner due to politics .