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
Searchlight on Harbor Entrance, Santiago de Cuba Searchlight on Harbor Entrance, Santiago de Cuba Searchlight on Harbor Entrance, Santiago de Cuba is an early 20th century painting by American artist Winslow Homer. It is currently (2018) in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Executed in oil on canvas from sketches made by Homer in 1895, the painting depicts two cannon atop Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca, also known as Morro castle, a Spanish built fortress on the island of Cuba. The fort played a role in the decisive Battle of Santiago de Cuba in 1898, in which the United States Navy destroyed a