Which U.S. protected cruiser led the capture of Guam in June 1898?

USS Charleston led the U.S. capture of Guam in June 1898. The protected cruiser carried out the operation under Captain Henry Glass, acting with three transports and accompanying troops during the opening weeks of the Spanish-American War.

Charleston’s convoy reached Guam on June 20, 1898. Glass initially expected Spanish resistance because American intelligence had described coastal defenses and a potentially substantial garrison. Instead, Guam’s Spanish authorities had not received reliable news that war had begun. When Charleston fired on the old fort at Piti, local officials mistakenly believed the shots were a salute and came out to discuss the supposed courtesy.

The misunderstanding quickly ended when Glass explained that the firing was hostile and that the United States and Spain were at war. Spanish Governor Juan Marina and the island’s small force surrendered on June 21. The operation was effectively bloodless, and Guam passed into American control.

The other ships in the expedition were transports, not the cruiser that directed the capture. Charleston therefore fits the question’s wording more precisely than Raleigh, Baltimore, or Olympia.