Cuba–Spain relations Poet José Martí who died in May 1895 at the Battle of Dos Ríos. The war lasted until 1898 when the United States deployed forces to the island. That same year, American naval ship, USS Maine (ACR-1) exploded and sank in the Havana Harbor and resulted in the United States blaming the incident on Spain. This resulted in the Spanish–American War which began in April 1898 until August 1898. At the end of the war, the United States came out as the victors in the war and obtained Cuba as a possession and it resulted in the defeat and collapse
Battle of Santiago de Cuba Spanish government sent their fleet under Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete to defend Cuba and keep an open line of communication with the Spanish garrison there; Cervera opposed this strategy. He believed his squadron lacked the strength necessary to engage the American squadron, preferring instead to engage the Americans near the Canary Islands or to mount an attack against the American coast, but he was overruled by his superiors in Madrid. Cervera's own misgivings reveal the seriousness of the situation faced: Lacking a clear strategy, the Spanish may have hoped to end the war quickly in a "glorious defeat" against