Battle of Nipe Bay
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Battle of Nipe Bay | |||||||
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Part of the Spanish–American War | |||||||
USS Annapolis circa 1898 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Spain | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
John J. Hunker | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1 auxiliary cruiser 2 gunboats 1 tug |
1 sloop 3 gunboats | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None |
1 sloop sunk 1 gunboat scuttled |
The Battle of Nipe Bay on July 21, 1898, was an engagement of the
which were supported by forts guarding the harbor.Battle
Nipe Bay had been designated as a rendezvous point for American naval forces delegated to attack Puerto Rico. Upon finding the harbor still occupied by Spanish forces, the American squadron, consisting of the gunboats USS Annapolis and USS Topeka, the armed tug USS Leyden and the armed yacht USS Wasp, maneuvered through a minefield to engage the Spanish forces. Jorge Juan opened fire on Wasp and Leyden, but they quickly sank her with help from Annapolis. While the other three ships were engaging Jorge Juan, Topeka silenced the harbor forts and fired on other Spanish works in the harbor.
Aftermath
Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, the Spanish sailed the small gunboat Baracoa upriver and scuttled her to prevent her capture by the superior American force. Just as the fighting came to an end, U.S. Navy personnel boarded Jorge Juan's sinking hulk, stripping several items from it as trophies. One such trophy was the Jorge Juan's