Action of 13 June 1898 Action of 13 June 1898 The Action of 13 June 1898 was a minor naval engagement of the Spanish–American War fought near Cienfuegos, Cuba, between the American auxiliary cruiser USS "Yankee" under Commander Willard Herbert Brownson and the Spanish gunboat "Diego Velázquez" under Teniente de Navío de 1ª clase Juan de Carranza y Reguera, which had exited the port to inspect a suspicious steamer which proved to be "Yankee". "Diego Velázquez", markedly inferior to "Yankee" in armament, managed to return to Cienfuegos, where it was joined by the small gunboats "Lince" and "Cometa". After the appearance of the latters, "Yankee"
Maritime history of the United Kingdom At the start of the war the German Empire had cruisers scattered across the globe. Some of them were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping. The Royal Navy systematically hunted them down, though not without some embarrassment from its inability to protect Allied shipping. For example, the detached light cruiser , part of the East-Asia squadron stationed at Qingdao, seized or destroyed 15 merchantmen as well as sinking a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. However, the bulk of the East-Asia squadron - consisting of the armoured cruisers and , light cruisers , , and and two transport ships