The Bombardment of San Juan, or the First Battle of San Juan, on 12 May 1898 was an engagement between
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
warships and the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...
s of
San Juan,
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
. It was the first major action of the
Puerto Rican Campaign during the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (cloc ...
.
Background
Under the command of
Rear Admiral William T. Sampson
William Thomas Sampson (February 9, 1840 – May 6, 1902) was a United States Navy rear admiral known for his victory in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War.
Biography
He was born in Palmyra, New York, and entered ...
, a U.S. fleet—consisting of the flagship
armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
,
battleships and , the
unprotected cruiser
An unprotected cruiser was a type of naval warship in use during the early 1870s Victorian or pre-dreadnought era (about 1880 to 1905). The name was meant to distinguish these ships from “protected cruisers”, which had become accepted in ...
s and , the
monitor
Monitor or monitor may refer to:
Places
* Monitor, Alberta
* Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States
* Monitor, Kentucky
* Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States
* Monitor, Washington
* Monitor, Logan County, West ...
s and , the
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
, the
auxiliary cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in ...
, the
collier , and two unarmed yachts transporting officials and the press,—prepared to attack
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
.
Their mission was to intercept the Spanish
Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete
Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete (18 February 1839, Medina-Sidonia, Cádiz, Spain – 3 April 1909, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain) was a prominent Spanish naval officer with the rank of '' Almirante'' ( admiral) who served in a number of high posit ...
and his fleet steaming from the
Cape Verde Islands
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
to the
Antilles
The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...
. American commanders believed the Spanish fleet was steaming for Puerto Rico. With this understanding, Sampson set steam from
Key West and lifted anchor at about noon on 2 May, for the Spanish province. The Fleet reached Cape Haitien, Haiti, on 8 May, where Rear Admiral Sampson telegraphed Washington to report updates and await for further instructions. Sampson intended to destroy the Spanish squadron and then move on to attack San Juan's castles,
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
s and
batteries.
On 8 May, in San Juan Bay, the captured the Spanish cargo ship ''Rita''. The Americans installed a
prize crew
A prize crew is the selected members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship. Prize crews were required to take their prize to appropriate prize courts, which would determine whether the ship's officers and crew had suffici ...
and sent the cargo vessel to
Charleston, South Carolina. The following day, a Spanish auxiliary cruiser, name unknown, and ''Yale'' fought a minor battle off San Juan. The Spanish auxiliary cruiser was much better armed, which led to ''Yale'', fleeing shortly after the commencement of the engagement. The next day, on May 10, ''Yale'' returned to San Juan Bay and briefly exchanged fire with Fort San Cristobal, with little effect.
Finally on 11 May, a day away from Puerto Rico and after receiving no new information about the Spanish fleet, William Sampson boarded ''Detroit'' and issued his orders. ''Detroit'' was to lead the U.S. battle line up San Juan's bay, their orders where to initiate a bombardment of the enemy positions if fired upon. Sampson also transferred his flag to ''Iowa''.
Bombardment
The next morning at 05:00, ''Detroit'' proceeded with leading the American battle line. Steaming far up into the bay, initially no Spanish shots were fired on the approaching U.S. fleet. Which allowed the American ships to reach the tip of the bay in full view of San Juan's
harbor
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
. Commander Sampson, feeling his warships were steaming too close to the enemy held city, ordered his ships to stop. Despite these orders, ''Detroit'' steamed forward, which prompted the other U.S. ships to follow.
![Morro Castle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Morro_Castle.jpg)
After failing to stop his vessels, Sampson ordered ''Iowa'' to train her guns on the nearest enemy stronghold, the
Morro castle. This was only a
ruse
Ruse may refer to:
Places
*Ruse, Bulgaria, a major city of Bulgaria
**Ruse Municipality
** Ruse Province
** 19th MMC – Ruse, a constituency
*Ruše, a town and municipality in north-eastern Slovenia
* Ruše, Žalec, a small settlement in east-ce ...
though; ''Iowa'' fired one shot into the water and the Spanish, believing they had been fired on, returned a salvo from their battery which failed to score a direct hit. ''Iowa'' fired again with a massive broadside which reportedly blew away a large portion of the castle.
Rough seas and high winds meant that both American and Spanish rounds were being blown off target, which resulted in a severe disadvantage for the American and Spanish gunners. Several shots ended up falling on San Juan houses and other buildings. The rough seas made the U.S. ships wobble back and forth, disallowing the sailors a steady platform to fire from, this also attributed to stray rounds. At least one shell struck the 16th-century
San José Church
San José Church ( es, Iglesia de San José), located in Old San Juan within the historic colonial zone of the capital of Puerto Rico, is one of the first significant works of architecture on the island. The church is one of the earliest surviving ...
.
All the damaged civilian structures were adjacent to Morro castle, which meant that any round failing to hit the castle would most likely hit the town accidentally. The U.S. warships maneuvered in circular motions, firing from both their port and starboard guns. Once Morro seemed to be considerably damaged, Sampson ordered his fleet to begin bombarding
Fort San Cristóbal, the Spanish
Ballaja Barracks, a small
sea fort,
El Cañuelo
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
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, which appears from Spanish records to have been unarmed and unoccupied, and a battery known as San Carlos.
The American ships were reported to be so close to the Spanish positions that their
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
were in able range to fire on the U.S. warships. However, none of their small arms were capable of inflicting serious damage on the modern steel vessels. A
French cruiser—the ''Amiral Rigault de Genouilly''—sat in San Juan's harbor, along with three small Spanish
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
s. Two of the gunboats were most likely the and . Possibly to avoid an international crisis with France, no major American attack was made on the Spanish gunboats as they were quite close to ''Amiral Rigault de Genouilly''.
Still, a few shots that did go in that direction damaged to the French cruiser's smoke stack and rigging. Apparently neither the French nor Spanish ships responded returned fire towards the Americans. From 05:00–08:00, Sampson's fleet fired their guns, while receiving light damage on only two ships, ''New York'' and ''Iowa''.
![Battle of Santiago, 3 July 1898 - NH 1132](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Battle_of_Santiago%2C_3_July_1898_-_NH_1132.jpg)
At 08:00, Sampson instructed his ships to cease firing due to the lack of Spanish return fire. The crew of the monitor ''Terror'' failed to understand these orders and they continued the bombardment solo until 08:30.
Casualties
The only U.S. sailor killed in action served aboard the ''New York'' with four injured; three others were slightly wounded aboard ''Iowa''.
''Amphitrite'' suffered one gunner's mate killed of heat exposure while occupying one of the
barbette
Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships.
In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...
s. After the battle, the commanding Spanish
Military Governor
A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...
,
Manuel Macías y Casado, confirmed that two of his troops were killed while manning the few different batteries and another 34 injured. Civilian casualties were five killed and 18 wounded. Most of the Puerto Rican civilians had fled their city at the sound of the first salvo. The number of refugees was reportedly so large that San Juan's streets were almost deserted, with the exception of the several hundred strong Spanish garrison.
Armament
The U.S. Navy had more and larger guns than the Spanish. The battleships, cruisers and monitors carried four 13", four 12", eight 10", twelve 8", and four 6" guns, in addition to many smaller pieces. Fort San Cristobal had two 150mm (5.9")
Ordóñez guns and two 240mm (9.45") Ordóñez howitzers,
Castillo San Felipe del Morro
Castillo San Felipe del Morro, also known as El Morro, is a citadel built between 16th and 18th centuries in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[ww ...](_blank)
, which apparently fired the first shot, had five 150mm Ordóñez guns and two 240mm Ordóñez howitzers, the San Antonio battery had four 150mm Ordóñez guns, the San Fernando Battery had four muzzleloading 210mm (8.3")
''sunchado'' (or ''zunchado'', meaning banded), howitzers, the Santa Elena battery had three more, the San Agustin battery had three almost as obsolete 150mm ''sunchado'' guns, and the Santa Teresa battery had three 150mm Ordóñez guns. The Navy fired 1,362 shells whereas the Spanish fired only 441 rounds.
Aftermath
The U.S. fleet steamed, or sailed in some cases, back to the Havana,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
blockade
A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force.
A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are leg ...
. On May 18, Sampson learned that Admiral Cervera's force had sailed to
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.
The municipality extends over , and contains ...
.
See also
*
Puerto Rican Campaign
References
Further reading
*
Nofi, Albert A., ''The Spanish American War, 1898'', 1997.
*Carrasco García, Antonio, ''En Guerra con Los Estados Unidos: Cuba, 1898'', Madrid: 1998.
*Freidel, Frank Burt. ''The Splendid Little War.'' Boston: Little, Brown,1958.
*Blow, Michael. ''A Ship to Remember: The Maine and the Spanish–American War.'' New York : Morrow, 1992. .
*Holloway, A., ''Hero Tales of the American Soldier and Sailor.'' Philadelphia: Elliott Publishing Company, 1899. .
External links
Bombardment of San Juan, Porto Rico - Color Chromolithographs (LOC)Spanish–American War Centennial Website*
{{coord, 18.4064, N, 66.0639, W, source:wikidata, display=title
San Juan
San Juan
History of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Military history of Puerto Rico
May 1898 events
19th century in San Juan, Puerto Rico