Page:The United States Army and Navy - including Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Hawaii (IA unitedstatesarm00chic).pdf/18



HARBOR AND DEFENSES OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA. This ancient capital of Cuba sprang into notoriety by the entrance of Cevera"s fleet into its harbor. Once before it became notorious as the place where so many It is on the south side of the island, near the of the ill fated crew of the Virginius w. re executed. Santiago is the second city of Cuba in population (71,000). hostile fleet eastern end, and is five hundred miles from Havana by direct line. Its inner harbor is spacious and deep with a narrow and tortuous entrance, which a would scarcely attempt to force, for some of the batteries are very close to the channel. The fort in the center of the picture is seventy feet above water level, the The narrowest part of the channel is the scene of Lieutenfort at the left about forty feet, so neither could be engaged successfully by battleships at short distance. ant Hobson's bold exploit in sinking the collier Merrimac to obstruct the passage. However, the tortuous nature of the channel which effectually hid Cervera's fleet from view, can not be shown in this engraving. If safety was the main object of the Spanish admiral, his end was at least temporarily attained, for no better natural defense exists than the one here shown at the harbor of Santiago.