Sinking of Spanish Sloop Jorge Juan by USS Leyden

''Jorge Juan'' was a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

of the Spanish Navy which was sunk off

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 ...

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 = (clock ...

Technical characteristics

''Jorge Juan'' was built at

La Seyne La Seyne-sur-Mer (; "La Seyne on Sea"; oc, La Sanha), or simply La Seyne, is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 62,888. La Seyne-sur-Mer, which is pa ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. She was launched in 1876. She had a composite hull, one funnel, one screw, and a barque rig. She was the lead ship of a class of two sloops.''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905'', p. 386

Operational history

During the

in 1898, ''Jorge Juan'' was in Cuba. She was anchored in

Nipe Bay Nipe Bay ( es, Bahía de Nipe) is a bay on the northern coast of Cuba in Holguín Province, part of the former Oriente Province.''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary'', Third Edition, p. 830. It is part of the municipalities of Mayarí and An ...

when, late on the morning of 21 July 1898, the

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 ...

armed yacht An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" ("hunter"; Dutch "jacht"; German "jagd", literally meaning "to hunt") was originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels ...

and armed

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

moved in toward

Port Nipe A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

in order to reconnoitre the bay. ''Wasp'' immediately sighted ''Jorge Juan'' at anchor some four miles up the bay. ''Wasp'' fired several shots at the signal station located at the bay's entrance, then sped forward to engage ''Jorge Juan''. At 1244, ''Jorge Juan'' opened fire at extreme range, and ''Wasp'' returned fire immediately. ''Leyden'', followed by the gunboats and , quickly joined in. As the range decreased, American gunfire became more accurate, and all four ships began scoring telling hits on ''Jorge Juan''. Finally, at 1312, ''Jorge Juan'' stuck her colors. The four American warships ceased fire and watched ''Jorge Juan'' sink at 1342.

Notes

References

* * Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Eds. ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905''. New York, New York: Mayflower Books Inc., 1979. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Jorge Juan Sloops Ships of the Spanish Navy Ships built in France Spanish–American War naval ships of Spain 1876 ships Maritime incidents in 1898 Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea Shipwrecks of the Spanish–American War