USS Isla de Cuba

Isla de Cuba was laid down on 25 February 1886 by Sir W.G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company at their yard in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. The ship was launched on 11 December 1886, and completed on 22 September 1887.[1] Upon completion, Isla de Cuba joined the Metropolitan Fleet in Spain. She participated in the Rif War of 1893–1894, bombarding the reef between Melilla and Chafarinos.[3] When an insurrection broke out in the Philippines, Isla de Cuba was sent there in 1897 to join the squadron of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo de Pasaron.[4]

She was still part of Montojo's squadron when the Spanish–American War began in April 1898. She was anchored with the squadron in Cañacao Bay under the lee of the Cavite Peninsula east of Sangley Point, Luzon, eight miles (13 km) southwest of Manila, when, early on the morning of 1 May 1898, the United States Navy's Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey, found Montojo's anchorage and attacked. The resulting Battle of Manila Bay was the first major engagement of the Spanish–American War.[5]

The wreck of Isla de Cuba.

The American squadron made a series of firing passes, wreaking great havoc on the Spanish ships.[5] At first, Dewey's ships concentrated their fire on Montojo's flagship, unprotected cruiser Reina Cristina, and on unprotected cruiser Castilla, and Isla de Cuba suffered little damage. When Reina Cristina was disabled, Isla de Cuba and her sister ship, Isla de Luzón, came alongside the sinking Reina Cristina to assist her under heavy American gunfire. Admiral Montojo shifted his flag to Isla de Cuba. When Montojo's squadron had been battered into submission, Isla de Cuba was scuttled in shallow water to avoid capture. Her upper works remained above the water, and a team from gunboat USS Petrel went aboard and set Isla de Cuba on fire.[3]

After the United States occupied the Philippines, the United States Navy seized, salvaged, and repaired Isla de Cuba.[3] The U.S. Navy took possession of her, refloated her, and repaired her damage. The Spanish 4.7 in (120 mm) guns were removed and replaced with 4 in (100 mm) guns.[6]

Isla de Cuba was commissioned into the United States Navy on 11 April 1900 at Hong Kong, China. The ship was assigned to the Asiatic Station after undergoing repairs and rerated as a gunboat. Isla de Cuba was used as a supply ship and patrol boat during the Philippine Revolution in the Philippines following the Spanish–American War. In March–April 1900 the ship was part of the Southern Squadron. As part of blockading the island of Samar, Isla de Cuba played a key part in disrupting supplies to the Philippine insurgents' and in abetting the capture of Vicente Lukbán, the insurgent leader in Samar. On 17 November 1900, the ship landed a battalion at Ormoc, Leyte, to hold the town after the garrison had been sent away to deal with Philippine insurgents. The battalion remained at Ormoc until 8 December. In 1901, Isla de Cuba was used as a survey ship to survey Ormoc anchorage and Parasan Harbor.[7]

On 4 March 1904, Isla de Cuba left Cebu, which marked the end of the ship's deployment to the Asiatic Station. The ship returned to the United States where Isla de Cuba was decommissioned on 9 June at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The ship was repaired at Portsmouth which were completed on 21 March 1907. Isla de Cuba was then loaned to the Maryland Naval Militia for use as a school ship.[7]

Isla de Cuba was sold at Charleston, South Carolina, to the Republic of Venezuela on 2 April 1912. The vessel was renamed Mariscal Sucre, after Marshall Antonio José de Sucre. Mariscal Sucre served in the Venezuelan Navy until she was scrapped in 1940.[7]

• Brook, Peter (1999). Warships for Export: Armstrong Warships 1867–1927. Gravesend, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-89-4.
• Campbell, N J M (1979). "United States". In Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
• Gray, Randal, Ed. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
• "Isla de Cuba". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
• Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Spain". In Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
• Nofi, Albert A. (1996). The Spanish–American War. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Combined Books Inc. ISBN 0-938289-57-8.