Spanish cruiser Cristóbal Colón Cristóbal Colón was a armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish - American War . Technical Characteristics . " Cristóbal Colón " was built in Italy under the name " Giuseppe Garibaldi " . She was laid down in 1895 , launched in September 1896 , sold to Spain , and delivered to the Spanish Navy at Genoa on 16 May 1897 . She had two funnels and was fast , well armed , and well protected , especially for her displacement . She was designed to be an intermediate type of ship between extant battleships and cruisers , powerful enough to function as a part of a battle fleet and yet fast enough to outrun more powerful ships , and in this sense was the Spanish Navy ' s first true armored cruiser . However , the Spanish Ministry of Marine rejected her gun , and she was delivered without it , detracting considerably from her designed firepower ; she was lost before the gun could be installed . Operational history . " Cristóbal Colón " was part of the Spanish Navy ' s 1st Squadron when tensions with the United States were rising after the explosion and sinking of the battleship in the harbor at Havana , Cuba on 15 February 1898 . The squadron concentrated at São Vicente in Portugal ' s Cape Verde Islands ; departing Cadiz on 8 April . The Spanish - American War began while " Cristóbal Colón " was at São Vicente . Ordered by neutral Portugal in accordance with international law to leave São Vicente within 24 hours of the declaration of war , " Cristóbal Colón " and the rest of Cervera ' s squadron departed on 29 April 1898 , bound for San Juan , Puerto Rico . Cervera ' s ships reached French - owned Martinique in the Lesser Antilles on 10 May 1898 . While " Cristóbal Colón " and the other large ships loitered in international waters , two Spanish destroyers went into Fort - de - France to ask for coal . France was neutral and would not supply coal , so the Spanish squadron departed on 12 May 1898 for Dutch - owned Curaçao , where Cervera expected to meet a collier . Cervera arrived at Willemstad on 14 May 1898 , but the Netherlands also was neutral , and strictly enforced its neutrality by allowing only and her sister ship to enter port and permitting them to load only of coal . On 15 May , Cervera ' s ships departed , no longer bound for San Juan , which by now was under a U . S . Navy blockade , but for as - yet unblockaded Santiago de Cuba on the southeastern coast of Cuba , arriving there on 19 May 1898 . Cervera hoped to refit his ships there before he could be trapped . His squadron was still in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba when an American squadron arrived on 27 May 1898 and began a blockade which would drag on for 37 days . " Cristóbal Colón " was anchored in the entrance channel to the harbor in a position where she could support the harbor ' s shore batteries , and on 28 May 1898 was the first unit of Cervera ' s squadron the American blockaders identified as being at Santiago de Cuba . The first American offensive action of the blockade was to attack her . At 1400 hours on 31 May 1898 , the battleships and and cruiser opened fire on " Cristóbal Colón " and the shore fortifications at the then - great range of 7 , 000 yards ( 6 , 400 m ) , and " Cristóbal Colón " and the coastal artillery returned fire . The Americans ceased fire at 1410 , and the Spanish at 1500 . Neither side suffered any casualties . The blockade wore on , with " Cristóbal Colón " and the others enduring occasional American naval bombardments of the harbor . Some of her men joined others from the fleet in a Naval Brigade to fight against a U . S . Army overland drive toward Santiago de Cuba . By the beginning of July 1898 , that drive threatened to capture Santiago de Cuba , and Cervera decided that his squadron ' s only hope was to try to escape into the open sea by running the blockade . The decision was made on 1 July 1898 , with the break - out set for 3 July 1898 . The crew of " Cristóbal Colón " spent 2 July 1898 returning from Naval Brigade service and preparing for action . With Vice Admiral Cervera aboard , " Infanta María Teresa " was to lead the escape , sacrificing herself by attacking the fastest American ship , armored cruiser , allowing the rest of the squadron to avoid action and run westward for the open sea . At about 0845 hours on 3 July 1898 , the Spanish ships got underway and moved out in line - ahead formation , with " Cristóbal Colón " third in line , following " Infanta María Teresa " and armored cruiser ; armored cruiser and destroyers and came along behind " Cristóbal Colón " . The U . S . squadron sighted the Spanish ships in the channel at about 0935 , and the Battle of Santiago de Cuba began . While " Infanta María Teresa " and " Vizcaya " charged " Brooklyn " , " Cristóbal Colón " , " Almirante Oquendo " , and the two destroyers turned west and worked up steam to make a run for the open sea . When " Brooklyn " turned eastward and away from " Infanta María Teresa " , all four Spanish armored cruisers wound up in the same line - ahead formation they had formed when leaving the harbor , brushing past the last obstacle in their path , the armed yacht . The action now developed into a hot stern chase , with the U . S . squadron about a mile to port of the Spanish ships and slightly behind them , every ship on both sides firing with every gun she could bring to bear . " Cristóbal Colón " hit " Iowa " twice , wrecking her dispensary with the first hit and holing her below the waterline with the second , slowing " Iowa " but not forcing her to cease fire . The outgunned Spanish squadron began to take losses , its ships catching fire and grounding themselves before their magazines could explode . " Infanta María Teresa " was first , sheering out of line and beaching herself at about 1025 a few miles west of Santiago de Cuba ; " Almirante Oquendo " ran up on the beach a few hundred yards farther west five minutes later . At 1106 , " Vizcaya " turned hard to starboard and ran herself ashore . With the two Spanish destroyers by now also sunk , " Cristóbal Colón " steamed on alone , the last survivor of Cervera ' s squadron . For a time , it seemed that she might get away . Although her machinery was not able to get her up to her top speed after months of hard steaming , she was rated as the fastest ship of either side in the battle , was better armored and armed than her erstwhile squadron mates , and thus far had taken only two 5 - inch ( 127 mm ) or 6 - inch ( 152 mm ) hits . She was making , and the fastest and closest U . S . ship , " Brooklyn " , was now six miles ( 10 km ) behind her . " Vixen " was close behind " Brooklyn " . Armored cruiser , making , was closing , and , farther behind , battleships and also were making their best speed in pursuit . After another hour , " Cristóbal Colón " had run through all of her best coal , switched to an inferior grade , and began to lose speed . At 1220 , " Oregon " fired a 13 - inch ( 330 - mm ) round which landed just astern of " Cristóbal Colón " , and soon more rounds , as well as 8 - inch ( 203 - mm ) shells from " Brooklyn " and " New York " , were landing around the Spanish ship . In contrast , she had only one 6 - inch ( 152 - mm ) gun that would bear on her pursuers . All told , the Spanish cruiser was hit six times . When the range dropped to 2 , 000 yards ( 1 , 830 m ) , the commanding officer of " Cristóbal Colón " , Captain Emilio Díaz - Moreu y Quintana , decided that after a 50 mile run , the chase was over ; in order to save the lives of her crew , he beached her at the mouth of the Tarquino River , west of Santiago , at 1315 hours . It was the end of the Battle of Santiago de Cuba . Some of her sailors made it ashore , although they had to beware of Cuban insurgents , who began to shoot the survivors of the wrecked Spanish ships . Others were rescued by American sailors who came alongside the wreck in small boats to take off survivors . That night , a U . S . Navy salvage team from repair ship decided that " Cristóbal Colón " was worth salvaging and towed her off the rocks . But she lacked watertight integrity and quickly capsized and sank , a total loss .