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
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba () (erected 1518 as the Diocese of Baracoa) is a Metropolitan Archdiocese, responsible for the dioceses of Guantánamo-Baracoa, Holguín and Santísimo Salvador de Bayamo y Manzanillo. The diocese's name was changed to the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba. It was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Seville in Spain until 12 February 1546 when it became a suffragan of the Diocese of Santo Domingo (now Archdiocese of Santo Domingo) in the Dominican Republic. In 1803, the see was elevated to an archdiocese. The archdiocese is