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Lot Essay
In the mid-1890s, Cuba became embroiled in a rebellion against her Spanish colonial overlords which received gradually increasing support from the United States. In January 1898, by which time the island was in open revolt, the U.S. Government sent the U.S.S. Maine to Havana to protect its nationals where, on 15t<\sup>h<\sup> February, this powerful armoured cruiser was blown up and destroyed in a mysterious explosion with the loss of 260 American lives. Outraged by what appeared to be a Spanish act of aggression, the United States seized the initiative and issued the Declaration of War which would finally mark the demise of the old Spanish colonial empire.
The short-lived Spanish-American War was fought in two theatres - the Caribbean and the Pacific - and lasted just 109 days. When it began, the U.S. Far Eastern Squadron, commanded by Commodore George Dewey in the U.S.S. Olympia, was ordered to find and engage the Spanish Pacific fleet. On 1s<\sup>t<\sup> May (1898), he found it lying at anchor in Manila Bay and, by 8.00am. the same morning, had engaged and destroyed virtually the entire Spanish force. Every one of the eight enemy ships was either crippled, beached, sunk or set on fire; Dewey's squadron had scored 171 hits against a mere 15 in return and the Spanish lost 381 men killed compared with 7 U.S. sailors wounded. It was a crushing defeat and one from which the Spanish Navy never really recovered.
The final and largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War was the battle of Santiago de Cuba which resulted in the total annihilation of the Spanish fleet, under the command of Admiral Pascal Cevera, thereby putting an end to all hostilities between the two countries. On 29t<\sup>h<\sup> May 1898, Cevera's fleet was sighted in the harbour by Commodore Winfield Scott Schley's 'Flying Squadron'. Two days later after the arrival of Rear-Admiral William Sampson's North Atlantic Squadron, the two fleets blockaded the harbour. On the morning of 3r<\sup>d<\sup> July, whilst attempting to break out of the harbour, Cevera on his flagship Infanta Maria Teresa opened fire on U.S.S.
Brooklyn, under the command of Commodore Winfield Scott Schley, who was steaming towards the Spanish fleet with the U.S. battleships Texas, Indiana, Iowa, Oregon, Vixen and Gloucester in line behind, as seen in the present work. It was a decisive victory, in a little over an hour all six of the Spanish ships had been destroyed. Sampson and Schley's fleet lost 1 man killed and the Spanish lost 323 men killed and 151 wounded, with 70 officers, including the Admiral himself, and 1,500 men taken prisoner.
The short-lived Spanish-American War was fought in two theatres - the Caribbean and the Pacific - and lasted just 109 days. When it began, the U.S. Far Eastern Squadron, commanded by Commodore George Dewey in the U.S.S. Olympia, was ordered to find and engage the Spanish Pacific fleet. On 1s<\sup>t<\sup> May (1898), he found it lying at anchor in Manila Bay and, by 8.00am. the same morning, had engaged and destroyed virtually the entire Spanish force. Every one of the eight enemy ships was either crippled, beached, sunk or set on fire; Dewey's squadron had scored 171 hits against a mere 15 in return and the Spanish lost 381 men killed compared with 7 U.S. sailors wounded. It was a crushing defeat and one from which the Spanish Navy never really recovered.
The final and largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War was the battle of Santiago de Cuba which resulted in the total annihilation of the Spanish fleet, under the command of Admiral Pascal Cevera, thereby putting an end to all hostilities between the two countries. On 29t<\sup>h<\sup> May 1898, Cevera's fleet was sighted in the harbour by Commodore Winfield Scott Schley's 'Flying Squadron'. Two days later after the arrival of Rear-Admiral William Sampson's North Atlantic Squadron, the two fleets blockaded the harbour. On the morning of 3r<\sup>d<\sup> July, whilst attempting to break out of the harbour, Cevera on his flagship Infanta Maria Teresa opened fire on U.S.S.
Brooklyn, under the command of Commodore Winfield Scott Schley, who was steaming towards the Spanish fleet with the U.S. battleships Texas, Indiana, Iowa, Oregon, Vixen and Gloucester in line behind, as seen in the present work. It was a decisive victory, in a little over an hour all six of the Spanish ships had been destroyed. Sampson and Schley's fleet lost 1 man killed and the Spanish lost 323 men killed and 151 wounded, with 70 officers, including the Admiral himself, and 1,500 men taken prisoner.