- Battle of Nipe Bay
Infobox Military Conflict
caption=
partof=theSpanish-American War
date=July 21 ,1898
place=Nipe Bay ,Cuba
result=American victory
conflict=Battle of Nipe Bay
combatant1=flagicon|Spain|1785 Kingdom of Spain
combatant2=flagicon|USA|1896United States
commander1=
commander2=Captain Hunker
strength1=1sloop
3 smallgunboat s
3 coastal forts
strength2=1 armedyacht ,
2 gunboats,
1 armed tug
casualties1=1 sloop sunk
1 gunboat scuttled
3 forts destroyed
casualties2=noneThe Battle of Nipe Bay of
21 July 1898 was a naval engagement in theSpanish-American War .Battle
The action was fought in
Nipe Bay ,Cuba , by fourU.S. Navy warships against the Spanishsloop "Jorge Juan" which was supported by forts guarding the harbor.The harbor had been designated as a rendezvous point for U.S. forces delegated to attack
Puerto Rico . Upon finding the harbor still occupied by Spanish forces, the American squadron, consisting ofgunboat USS "Annapolis", armed tug USS "Leyden", armedyacht USS "Wasp", and gunboat USS "Topeka", maneuvered through a minefield to engage the Spanish forces. "Jorge Juan" opened fire upon "Wasp" and "Leyden" but was quickly sunk by the yacht and tug along with the help of "Annapolis". While the other three ships were engaging "Jorge Juan", "Topeka" silenced the harbor forts and fired on other Spanish works in the harbor. Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, the Spanish sailed another small gunboat upriver and scuttled it.After the battle ended the American crew boarded "Jorge Juan"'s sinking hulk, stripping several items from it as trophies. The Americans suffered few or no casualties and a few days after the battle the small American squadron received orders to depart and left.
Aftermath
After the battle ended the American crew boarded "Jorge Juan"'s sinking hulk, stripping several items from it as trophies. The Americans suffered few or no casualties and a few days after the battle the small American squadron received orders to depart and left. It was later decided that the bay was not nessesary for operations against Puerto Rico, but the battle did cause significant damage to the
Spanish Navy and denied the Spanish the use of the port for the remainder of the war.Sources
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E0CE6DA1139E433A25757C2A9619C94699ED7CF&oref=slogin New York Times] , July 24 1898
* http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w3/wasp-vii.htm
* http://books.google.com/books?id=N7Xvrxki3lMC&pg=PR14&lpg=PR14&dq=battle+of+nipe+bay&source=web&ots=pNTeuNv2D-&sig=F5Wk_ZPvZwo1ClqId7lrAB4qgjk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA399,M1
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