What did your grandmother tell you?
“More was lost in Cuba”: a catchphrase in the face of adversity.
Made phrase that survives.
It was minted after 1898 in Spain, due to the loss of Cuba.
Cuba was Spain back then, right?
For 406 years: until July 3, 1898, when it passed from one empire to another.
To the American.
The United States wanted to take Cuba from Spain. He offered 300 million dollars. Spain rejected them and the United States threatened to conquer the Canary Islands.
In the end there was war.
An American ship exploded in the dock of Havana, the Maine. There were 260 deaths. The United States blamed Spain.
And had it been Spain?
It was an accident. A study by Admiral Ricover in the seventies demonstrated this. But the United States wanted war and took advantage of the opportunity. And the Hearst press encouraged her.
Where is the Maine today?
It is a wreck several miles from Cuba, it was left there when the Americans dragged it in 1898.
What is a wreck?
A sunken ship, submerged in a body of water. I love wreck diving.
Are you interested in Maine?
I am more interested in the Spanish fleet that sank in front of the bay of Santiago de Cuba on that July 3, 1898 disaster.
A part of what was lost in Cuba?
Yes, there were six warships captained by Admiral Cervera.
Almirante Cervera… He had a street in Barceloneta.
A distinguished Spanish sailor, in 1898 he commanded the operations squadron in the Antilles: he knew that confronting the American navy led to disaster.
And what happened?
They ordered him to go and the Americans sank the six Spanish ships as they left the bay of Santiago de Cuba.
Hit and sunk… And you say they are still in the same place?
Except one, the María Teresa, which the Americans wanted to take… and ended up sunk in the Bahamas. The rest is still there, 125 years later: shallow, transparent waters: what a wonder to dive there!
Have you dived into all of them?
In 35 successive dives over the last thirty years.
You have specialized, I see.
Today I know everything about those wrecks. Cuba has appointed me as a member of its Submerged Heritage Management Office.
What were those ships called?
There were four cruisers: the aforementioned María Teresa – flagship, with Cervera in command – and Almirante Cristóbal Colón, Almirante Oquendo and Vizcaya, plus two destroyers, the Furor and the Plutón.
Which of the wrecks is your favorite?
The Christopher Columbus cruise, without a doubt!
Because?
It’s whole. His captain ordered the floodgates to be opened, and when the Americans tried to take him away, he sank. Today I dived inside the winery, with a big hole.
For a cannon shot?
No, it was intact: Commander Cousteau opened it, who dived it… and looted it. There is still ammunition, bullets, rifles… it was the first Spanish stainless steel ship! And quixotic: she went to war without cannons.
No cannons?
There was no time to assemble part of the artillery… Spain… improvised.
What do you feel when diving in it?
That I touch history with my hand. With that ship an empire of four centuries of Spain in America was sunk, and on top of that with the name of the discoverer of America.
And about Cuba: a historical paradox, yes.
I couldn’t be a historian as I dreamed, but I have studied the history of the 1898 disaster on my own… and I have delved into it.
How did that passion of yours come about?
When I was young I read The Captain of the Yucatán, a novel by Emilio Salgari set during the Cuban war: a woman with a ship helps Spain with weapons and ammunition…
And, furthermore… “more was lost in Cuba.”
The phrase that my grandmother Antonia repeated, yes.
What was the journey of Admiral Cervera’s fleet?
It set sail from Cádiz, passed through the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Curaçao… until anchoring in Santiago de Cuba.
Who sank the Spanish fleet?
Rear Admiral Sampson and Commodore Schley, leading four battleships, three gunboats and two American cruisers, with superior fire.
Poor little Cervera…
Cervera saved many lives: he waited until daylight before leaving the bay. He ordered the officers: “Dress up, as on great occasions in defense of the homeland.” And so they set out to meet their destination: the bottom of the sea.
