The naval Battle of Santiago/Combate en Santiago de Cuba, on 3 July 1898, pitting the five battleships, two armored cruisers, and two armed yachts of Commodore Winfield Scott Schley and RADM William T. Sampson against the bottled-up Spanish fleet of Almirante Pascual Cervera y Topete– the latter with a much smaller force of just four armored cruisers and two destroyers– would normally just be remembered in maritime art such as this:
Battle of Santiago, Cuba, July 3, 1898. Painting by Dr. Alfonso Saenz, a Spanish Naval Surgeon and Naval Artist. Signed and dated by the artist, 1899. Courtesy of Army-Navy Club of Washington. Via the National Archives.
And this.
Battle of Santiago, 3 July 1898. Caption: “The last Spanish Torpedo Boat leaving Santiago Harbor,” during the battle. Colored Lithograph published in “Deeds of Valor,” Vol. II, p34, by the Perrien-Keydel Co., Detroit, 1907. NH 79912-KN
However, the widespread availability of inexpensive personal cameras meant there were a number of snapshots captured during the battle itself– one of the first sea clashes so documented.
This was especially true among the tech-savvy young Annapolis cadets rushed to service aboard the battleships USS Oregon and USS Iowa.
Naval Cadet and future Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy (center) and Captain Charles Edgar Clark (right) on board USS Oregon (Battleship # 3) during the action. Photograph by Hart. Copied from the Journal of Naval Cadet R.R. Miller, USN, 1898. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 1757
Naval Cadets Luther M. Overstreet and Henry Norman Jenson aboard the USS Oregon (BB-3). Caption: At Santiago, July 3, 1898, during the Spanish-American War. From Journal of Naval Cadet C.R. Miller, USN, 1898. NH 2191
Captain Charles Edgar Clark, Cadet Luther Martin Overstreet, Haight (Sailor otherwise unidentified), and Cadet Mark St. Clair Ellis. Caption: Aboard the USS Oregon (BB-3) after the Battle of Santiago, Cuba, July 1898. Spanish-American War. From Journal of Naval Cadet C.R. Miller, USN, 1898. NH 2195
Spanish-American War, 1898. Lieutenant Commander J.K. Cogswell wig-wagging to Battleship “Your Shots Are Falling Short” during the Battle of Santiago, Cuba, July 3, 1898, aboard the USS Oregon (BB-3). From Journal of Naval Cadet C.R. Miller, USN. 1898. NH 2197
Spanish-American War, 1898. Captain Francis William Dickins and Lieutenant Austin Rockwell Davis (later KIA in the Boxer Rebellion), United States Marine Corps, on deck during the Battle of Santiago, in July 1898. From Journal of Naval Cadet C.R. Miller, USN, 1898. NH 2198
Battle of Santiago, 3 July 1898. Lieutenant (later Admiral) Edward W. Eberle on board USS Oregon (BB-3), during a lull in the battle. Photograph from the journal of Naval Cadet C.R. Miller, USN. NH 2186
Crew of the USS Oregon (BB-3) Caption: Cheering the hauling down of the colors of the “Cristobol Colon” (a Spanish auxiliary armored cruise) during the Battle of Santiago, 3 July 1898. NH 1110
Battle of Santiago, 3 July 1898.Watching the battle from the deck of USS Iowa (Battleship # 4). Note the volume of dense gun smoke around the ship in the left center. Copied from the Journal of Naval Cadet Cyrus R. Miller. NH 1132
Of course, the American joviality was largely due to the fact they only suffered one death and one wounded as casualties in the sea battle and more than carried the day. A naval layup, so to speak.
On the other side, where some 1,800 Spaniards died, the response was probably less enthusiastic.