Editing Spanish–American War (section)

====Naval operations====
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Santiago campaign 1898.gif|thumb|upright=2.05|The Santiago Campaign (1898)]]
[[File:US Navy Battleship USS Iowa BB-4 Crewmen Pose 1898.jpg|thumb|Crewmen pose under the gun turrets of {{USS|Iowa|BB-4|2}} in 1898.]]

The major port of [[Santiago de Cuba]] was the main target of naval operations during the war. The U.S. fleet attacking Santiago needed shelter from the summer [[Atlantic hurricane season|hurricane season]]; Guantánamo Bay, with its excellent harbor, was chosen. The [[1898 invasion of Guantánamo Bay]] happened between June 6 and 10, with the first U.S. naval attack and subsequent successful landing of [[U.S. Marines]] with naval support.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shulimson |first=Jack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZ_fAAAAMAAJ |title=Marines in the Spanish American War |publisher=History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1998 |year=1998 |location=Washington DC |pages=11 |language=en |access-date=December 23, 2021 |archive-date=September 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923144607/https://books.google.com/books?id=cZ_fAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Trevor|first=Plante|date=13 December 2017|title=The First Marine Battalion in the Spanish-American War|url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1998/spring/spanish-american-war-marines-1.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810131009/https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1998/spring/spanish-american-war-marines-1.html|archive-date=10 August 2021|access-date=23 December 2021|via=[[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]]}}</ref>

On April 23, a council of senior admirals of the [[Spanish Navy]] had decided to order Admiral [[Pascual Cervera y Topete]]'s squadron of four armored cruisers and three torpedo boat destroyers to proceed from their present location in [[Cape Verde]] (having left from [[Cádiz]], Spain) to the [[Spanish West Indies|West Indies]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=a3oDAAAAYAAJ&dq=Fernando+Mart%C3%ADnez+de+admiral&pg=RA3-PA64 Information from abroad: War notes, Issues 1–8] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126185523/https://books.google.com/books?id=a3oDAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA64&lpg=RA3-PA64&dq=Fernando+Mart%C3%ADnez+de+admiral&source=bl&ots=xKrD0TCkuA&sig=NhdM206irX3yMWwWe-ipkVJRr0A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKrYOJmLPYAhVD3GMKHYN4CzIQ6AEIOzAI#v=onepage&q=Fernando%20Mart%C3%ADnez%20de%20admiral&f=false |date=January 26, 2018 }} (1899), [[Office of Naval Intelligence]], pp. 60–64</ref>

In May, the fleet of Spanish Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete had been spotted in Santiago harbor by American forces, where they had taken shelter for protection from sea attack. A two-month stand-off between Spanish and American naval forces followed.

U.S. Assistant Naval Constructor, Lieutenant [[Richmond Pearson Hobson]] was ordered by Rear Admiral [[William T. Sampson]] to sink the [[Collier (ship)|collier]] {{USS|Merrimac|1894|6}} in the harbor to bottle up the Spanish fleet. The mission was a failure, and Hobson and his crew were captured though Hobson soon became a national hero for leading what was widely reported as a suicide mission. Upon release, Hobson was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor and promoted to [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain.]]{{efn|Hobson resigned his commission after his request to retire as a [[Captain (United States O-6)|naval captain]] was refused, prompting [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] [[William Henry Moody]] to reconsider and allow him to retire.<ref name=Hobson>{{cite news|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn93067846/1903-02-11/ed-1/seq-1/|title=Hobson Will Get Out|newspaper=The Watchman and Southronvia=University of South Carolina|date=February 11, 1903|page=1|access-date=October 17, 2022|archive-date=October 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017233017/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn93067846/1903-02-11/ed-1/seq-1/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was elected in 1907 from [[Alabama]] to the [[U.S. House of Representatives]]. In 1934, his naval retirement rank was advanced to [[Rear Admiral (United States)|rear admiral]].}}

The [[Battle of Santiago de Cuba]] on July 3, was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish–American War. When the Spanish squadron finally attempted to leave the harbor on July 3, the American forces destroyed or grounded five of the six ships. Only one Spanish vessel, the new armored cruiser {{Ship|Spanish cruiser|Cristóbal Colón||2}}, survived, but her captain hauled down her flag and [[scuttled]] her when the Americans finally caught up with her. The 1,612 Spanish sailors who were captured and sent to [[Seavey's Island]] at the [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]] in [[Kittery, Maine]], where they were confined at [[Portsmouth Naval Prison|Camp Long]] as [[prisoners of war]] from July 11 until mid-September. The Americans treated Spain's officers, soldiers, and sailors with great respect. Ultimately, Spanish prisoners were returned to Spain with their "honors of war" on American ships. Admiral Cervera received different treatment from the sailors taken to Portsmouth. For a time, he was held at Annapolis, Maryland, where he was received with great enthusiasm by the people of that city.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cervera at Annapolis|agency=Chicago Tribune|date=July 17, 1898}}</ref>