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"
French cruiser Léon Gambetta which shortly led to them declaring war on Austria-Hungary. In spite of the growing threat from Austrian and now German U-boats in the Mediterranean, the armoured cruiser was patrolling unescorted at a reported on a clear, calm night just to the south of the Otranto Straits when she was torpedoed by the "U-5". "Léon Gambetta" sank in just 10 minutes. Out of 821 men on board, 684 including Rear Admiral Victor Baptistin Senes, commander of the 2nd Light Division, were lost along with all commissioned officers. There were 137 survivors. The French cruiser patrol line was moved South to the