Ypiranga incident Ypiranga incident The "Ypiranga" Incident occurred on April 21, 1914, at the port of Veracruz in Mexico. The SS "Ypiranga" was a German steamer that was commissioned to transport arms and munitions to the Mexican federal government under Victoriano Huerta. The United States had placed Mexico under an arms embargo to stifle the flow of weaponry to the war-torn state, then in the throes of civil war, forcing Huerta's government to look to Europe for armaments. "Ypiranga" tried to enter the harbor at Veracruz to unload on the first day of the US occupation but was detained by US troops
SMS Dresden (1907) guns. On 15 April 1914, "Dresden" steamed to Tampico on Mexico's Caribbean coast. That month, the German-flagged merchant ship arrived in Mexico, carrying a load of small arms for the regime of Mexican dictator Victoriano Huerta. The United States had put an arms embargo into effect in an attempt to reduce the violence of the civil war. The US Navy intercepted "Ypiranga" on 21 April. "Dresden" arrived, confiscated the merchantman, and pressed her into naval service to transport German refugees out of Mexico. Despite the American embargo, the Germans delivered the weapons and ammunition to the Mexican government on 28