Second Battle of San Juan (1898)

The Second Battle of San Juan occurred on 22 June 1898 when two Spanish vessels tried to break the American blockade off San Juan.

Background

San Juan had been under blockade by American forces since April 1898. Most of the time, the blockade consisted of a single auxiliary cruiser which patrolled and pursued blockade runners that were attempting to reach San Juan. By June, the task of blockading San Juan was delegated to the auxiliary cruiser USS Saint Paul, a former ocean liner commanded by Captain Charles Sigsbee who had formerly commanded the USS Maine. The Spanish destroyer Terror, originally part of Admiral Cervera's squadron, had mechanical trouble and left the main Spanish fleet eventually reaching San Juan. With Terror and several other naval vessels at their disposal, the Spanish decided to make an attempt at breaking the blockade. Terror and the old cruiser Isabel II set off from San Juan to engage St. Paul while a crowd of jubilant locals at the harbor cheered them on.

Battle

Almost as soon as the Spanish ships engaged the American vessel, they realized that Isabel II would have to retire, as she was much slower than the American ship. Terror attempted to cover the cruiser's escape with a torpedo attack but was thwarted when her rudder was placed out of action by St. Paul. The ship then turned allowing St. Paul to score direct hits near Terror's waterline disabling one of her engines and causing her to list. Terror then fled the engagement and beached herself on a nearby bank to keep from sinking. The Spanish sortie had failed with the Americans maintaining the blockade while inflicting several casualties on the Spanish as well as putting Terror out of action for the rest of the war. The small Spanish Squadron was not finished however and would sortie once more later in the war.

Sources

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