Sunken Treasures in Santiago de Cuba
The city is about to celebrate its 500th anniversary. A lot has taken place in this region of Cuba, since the establishment of the first Spanish colony at the west side of the bay, to date. Santiago’s bay has witnessed the historic-cultural development of this city and its waters store secrets, legends and proven histories.
The rusty wrecks of one of Spain’s most prestigious navy squadrons in the 19th century lie at the bottom of Santiago’s west coastline: it was commanded by vice admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete.
After declaring war to Spain due to the mysterious explosion of the Maine, United States sent two of its most powerful war fleets to Santiago de Cuba in order to take down the Spanish battleships that were guarding the Caribbean bay. The ten militarily-superior US warships, commanded by Admiral Sampson, were deployed right in front of El Morro Castle. When they had surrounded the way into the bay, their cannons were simultaneously fired against the six Spanish ships that were slowly coming out of the narrow entrance of the cove.
It was July 3, 1898, 9:35 a.m. That was the beginning of the Santiago de Cuba Navy Battle, an outraging US interference in the war the Cuba had practically won against Spain.
The magnificent climate wasn’t on the Spanish warships’ side, as they faced the US cannons in a sort of an unfortunate shooting practice.
The Spanish squadron was finally reduced to some damaged ships that had to run aground and the rest sank in the waters of the Caribbean Sea.
116 years after these events, the preservation of these shipwrecks is a historical and cultural necessity. The preservation of Admiral Cervera’s warships is not homogeneous. The condition of each ship is to be analyzed, since some of them are not that damaged. That’s the case of Christopher Columbus battleship, which only took five impacts, unlike other that were disastrously shelled, such as Vizcaya and Admiral Oquendo.
The flagship of the Spanish squadron, Infanta María Teresa, was leading the rest and it was in fire near the coast. The North Americans, looking for a fine war trophy, tugged it and tried to take back to the US, but the bad weather made it sink in Bahamas, near Isla del Gato.
The rest of the squadron lies from the first kilometers of the west coast to the mouth of the bay and popular La Mula River, near Ocujal.
The shipwrecks have been hit by the climatological battering for over a century, including the disastrous hurricane Sandy. But I think that one of the most dangerous aspects in terms of their preservation is the action of men. Different pieces have been taken from them over these decades, as ship-less “pirates” dive to those sites. The collaboration of nearby communities is a key element to avoid the dismantling of such precious treasure.
That’s the reason why the preservation of our underwater heritage is also a proof of love to our mother city. We are to take care of what makes Santiago be rich not only because of its people, but its history.
