Spanish Flagship Gun - Fort Griswold - Groton, CT, USA - Spanish-American War Memorials on Waymarking.com

This cannon is situated, directly west of the Groton Battle Monument in the Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park, in Groton, Connecticut. The marker on the cannon, relates the following:

THIS GUN WAS TAKEN FROM THE WRECK OF
ADMIRAL CERVERA'S FLAGSHIP
MARIA THERESA
WHICH FIRED THE FIRST SHOT
JULY 3, 1898
AS SHE STEAMED FROM SANTIAGO HARBOR.


"One of the guns of the Spanish Cruiser INFANTA MARIA TERESA is located at Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park in Groton, Connecticut. The gun is apparently a Honotoria 10 centimeter (5.5 inch) gun, one of ten that were aboard the Spanish flagship at the Battle of Santiago. This particular gun is reputed to have fired the battle's first shot. The gun is 17.5 feet long, and, at the breech is approximately 1.33 feet in diameter." (visit link)

"Admiral Cervara's flagship the INFANTA MARIA TERESA was one of the prides of the Spanish Fleet. Aboard her the unhappy Admiral led his fleet across the Atlantic to what he knew could only be its doom in Cuban waters. She was lost at the Battle of Santiago.

INFANTA MARIA TERESA led the sortie out of Santiago Bay on July 3rd, 1898. As the flagship she drew the bulk of the American fire in the early stages of the battle. Soon she was seriously damaged and on fire. After apparently making an attempt to ram Commodore Schley's flagship, USS Brooklyn, Cervera ran the TERESA ashore just a few miles west of the entrance to Santiago Bay and allowed his crew to save themselves. Despite being ravaged by fire and magazine explosions, the US Navy found the cruiser salvagable and she was patched up, refloated and taken to Guantanamo Bay for preliminary repaies. While being towed to the Norfolk, Virginia for rebuilding by the repair ship VULCAN she was caught in a tropical storm. The repair ship MERRITT took off the helpless cruiser's crew, the tow line was cut, and the TERESA was lost at sea. She eventually came to rest between two reefs off Cat Island and, with her back broken, was declared a total loss.

The INFANTA MARIA TERESA was a modern and speedy first class Cruiser. However, the level of training and maintenance in the Spanish fleet was not what it should have been, and the TERESA, like all of Cervara's ships, went to war at less than full efficiency. She was in need of drydocking and short of ammunition. Even some of her guns were not operatable. Also, like all warships of the era, she was heavily decorated and furnished with wood. The US Navy stripped this flammable material off its vessels at the beginning of the conflict, but the Spanish failed to do so, making the TERESA and her fleet-mates seriously susceptible to fire." (visit link)

Type of memorial: Plaque Location: Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park Public or private: Public Who placed it?: Unknown When was it placed?: Unknown

Visit Instructions:
Please provide another photo of the memorial. If you want, you can be in it, but it's by no means necessary.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/06/2013 Chasing Blue Sky visited it