Action of 13 June 1898 decided to withdraw. At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War Cienfuegos was a strategically important port due to its facilities and good communications with Havana. Some prewar plans recommended its prompt capture, but instead it was blockaded, along with some other important ports of the southern coast of Cuba such as Santiago de Cuba and Manzanillo. The most powerful Spanish naval units of the island, meanwhile, had been gathered in Santiago, and submarine defenses consisting mainly of torpedoes had been installed in the major ports of Havana, Cienfuegos, Santiago and San Juan de Puerto Rico. The naval units based in
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption, Santiago de Cuba de Santa Catalina, was elevated to the status of cathedral by Pope Adrian VI. Its construction ended in 1526. It was destroyed in the earthquakes of 1678, 1766, 1852 and 1932. In 1882 it received the title of minor basilica from the Holy See. It became a national monument of Cuba in 1958. Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption, Santiago de Cuba The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption (), also called Santiago de Cuba Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral and minor basilica in Santiago de Cuba, in eastern Cuba. The cathedral fronts onto Céspedes