Battle of Santiago de Cuba 1898
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 3 July 1898 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1898 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Cuba | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| Participants | Pascual Cervera y Topete, Spain, United States, William Thomas Sampson, Winfield Scott Schley | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 19.9600, -75.8750 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was fought on July 3, 1898, between a United States Navy squadron led by Rear Admiral William T. Sampson and Commodore Winfield Scott Schley and a Spanish Navy squadron under Counter-admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete during the Spanish–American War. The significantly more powerful American squadron, comprising four battleships and two armored cruisers, decisively defeated the outgunned Spanish squadron, which consisted of four armored cruisers and two destroyers, sinking all of Cervera's ships while losing none of their own. The crushing defeat sealed the American victory in the Cuban theater of the war, ensuring Cuba's independence from Spanish rule.
Beginning in 1895, American-Spanish relations worsened over Spain's suppression of the Cuban War of Independence, with the American public being agitated by exaggerated reports of Spanish atrocities against Cubans. In January 1898, the American cruiser USS Maine was sent to Cuba to protect American interests in Cuba but less than a month later exploded in Havana harbor, killing 266 sailors and inflaming American opinion. Despite a lack of proof, Spain was portrayed as the culprit in the American yellow press and two months later the US declared war on Spain.
The Americans realized that defeating the Spanish squadron stationed in Cuba was vital to ensuring victory in the war.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Santiago de Cuba (revision 1377907298), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Attack on the Moncada Barracks 1953 · 9 km
- Siege of Santiago 1898 · 9 km
- Battle of San Juan Hill 1898 · 11 km
- Battle of El Caney 1898 · 16 km
- Invasion of Cuba (1741) 1741 · 77 km
- Battle of Guantánamo Bay 1898 · 80 km
Browse more: battles in Cuba · North America · 19th century battles