What Spanish cruiser was sunk off Cuba after running aground at Santiago on July 3, 1898?

Cristóbal Colón was the Spanish cruiser sunk after running aground during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on July 3, 1898. It was the last surviving major ship of Admiral Pascual Cervera’s squadron to flee the harbor.

Cristóbal Colón was a fast Italian-built Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser serving in the Spanish Navy. During the breakout, it left Santiago third in line and initially outpaced its American pursuers. Its speed advantage faded after the ship exhausted its supply of high-quality coal and had to burn inferior fuel loaded at Santiago.

American ships, especially USS Oregon and USS Brooklyn, closed the distance and opened fire. After a long chase westward, Captain Emilio Díaz-Moreu beached the cruiser near the mouth of the Turquino River and ordered its valves opened so it could be scuttled rather than captured. The ship later sank when an American salvage team tried to tow it away.

The wording can cause confusion because Cristóbal Colón was first deliberately beached and scuttled, then definitively sank during salvage. It was not Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya, or Infanta María Teresa.