Battle of Santiago de Cuba in recognition of the hundredth anniversary of the battle and the Spanish–American War, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy authorized the return of the National Combat Flag from the Spanish flagship "Infanta Maria Teresa" to the Spanish Navy via their Chief of Staff, who was to meet with the U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations in Newport, Rhode Island. However, the return of the flag was aborted when the curator of the Naval Academy Museum, citing the congressional language from 1949, refused to surrender the banner. Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was a naval
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