Battle of Cárdenas

Second Battle of Cárdenas
Part of the Spanish–American War
USRC Hudson, led by Frank Hamilton Newcomb, moves to assist a disabled USS Winslow during the Second Battle of Cárdenas.
Date May 11, 1898 Location off Cárdenas, Matanzas, Cuba Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Spain	United States
Commanders and leaders
Mariano Mateu Domingo Montes	Chapman C. Todd John Bernadou Frank H. Newcomb
Strength
2 small gunboats 1 armed tug	2 torpedo boats 2 gunboats 1 cutter
Casualties and losses
1 armed tug damaged 2 wounded	1 torpedo boat damaged 5 dead 3 wounded

The Second Battle of Cárdenas was a secondary naval engagement of the Spanish–American War fought on 11 May 1898 in the port of Cárdenas, Cuba, between an American squadron of 5 ships under Captain Chapman C. Todd and 3 small Spanish vessels under Mariano Mateu. The battle resulted in an unusually costly American reverse that dissuaded the U.S. Navy from undertaking further attacks on the port.

In May 1898, a small squadron of the United States Navy, consisting of the torpedo boats USS Foote and USS Winslow, the gunboats USS Wilmington and USS Machias, and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Hudson, was operating off the northern coast of Cuba. On May 11, 1898, this fleet entered the Bay of Cárdenas to destroy the three small Spanish gunboats reportedly moored in the harbor. Having swept the area for mines, Captain Todd ordered the Winslow to approach the shore and investigate a steamer moored alongside the wharf to determine whether the vessel was an enemy warship.

The Spanish squadron based on Cárdenas consisted of three ships: Ligera, Alerta and Antonio López, under the command of Teniente de Navío Mariano Mateu. The 42-ton Ligera, which had driven off Foote two weeks earlier in a fortuitous encounter off harbour's mouth, was under Lieutenant Antonio Pérez Rendón, while Alerta, of the same tonnage, was under Lieutenant Pasquín. Both gunboats mounted a cannon of 42 mm and a Maxim of 37 mm. Antonio López was a small tug armed with a Nordenfelt gun, and under the command of Lieutenant Domingo Montes Reguefeiros. The Spanish Line had transferred the Antonio Lopez to the navy some years before.

...
Wikipedia