Battle of Guantánamo Bay surrender of Santiago, sailed for the United States, and after a stop at New York, arrived at Portsmouth Harbor, disembarking her marines on the evening of 24 August 1898. Battle of Guantánamo Bay The Battle of Guantánamo Bay was fought from June 6 to June 10 in 1898, during the Spanish–American War, when American and Cuban forces seized the strategically and commercially important harbor of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Capturing the bay from the Spanish forces was instrumental in the following Battle of Santiago de Cuba and the subsequent invasion of Puerto Rico. Although overshadowed by the land and sea battles
USS Santiago de Cuba (1861) elusive Southern warships. On 21 June 1863, "Santiago de Cuba" overtook "Victory" off Palmetto Point, Eleuthera Island, ending a long chase after the British steamer had slipped through the blockade off Charleston with a cargo of cotton, tobacco, and turpentine. On the 25th, she took steamer, "Britannia", in the same area. On 15 July, she boarded steamer, "Lizzie", east of the Florida coast and sent the prize to Key West, Florida for trial. Late in the year, "Santiago de Cuba" sailed north for repairs and decommissioned on 30 December 1863. Overhaul completed, the side wheeler recommissioned on 6 June 1864