On what date did the U.S. Navy bombard San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1898?

The U.S. Navy bombarded San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 12, 1898.

The attack was an early U.S. naval operation in the Puerto Rican campaign of the Spanish-American War. Rear Admiral William T. Sampson led an American squadron against San Juan’s Spanish defenses, including coastal forts and batteries protecting the harbor. The Americans hoped to locate or destroy Spain’s Atlantic fleet, particularly the squadron commanded by Admiral Pascual Cervera.

The bombardment lasted roughly two hours. American ships fired on the city’s fortifications, while Spanish artillery returned fire. The result was indecisive: several defensive positions and ships were damaged, but San Juan’s principal defenses were not destroyed and the American fleet withdrew.

A common mix-up is confusing this bombardment with the later U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico, which began in July 1898. July 25 marks the landing at Guánica, not the naval bombardment of San Juan. The fighting also differed from the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, where Sampson’s forces later helped destroy Cervera’s fleet.