Shipwrecks · Santiago de Cuba
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo is a shipwreck at 19°57′38″N 75°59′37″W in Santiago de Cuba province. Almirante Oquendo was an Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy. Launched in 1891, she was named after Antonio de Oquendo, the Spanish naval commander who was decisively defeated at the Battle of the Downs in 1639. Almirante Oquendo was sunk by the United States Navy on 3 July 1898 at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War.
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo: coast and water
640 m at 93°: Bahía de Nima Nima (cove); 2550 m at 101°: Punta Cabrera (point); 2680 m at 244°: Ensenada de El Cuero (cove); 4310 m at 254°: Playa Coco (beach); 8210 m at 74°: Bahía de Cabañas (bay); 9400 m at 274°: Boca de Dos Ríos (cove); 11460 m at 77°: Ensenada Cabañitas (cove); 11560 m at 329°: Hongolosongo (estuary); 11800 m at 78°: Punta Rompe Canillas (point); 11800 m at 78°: Punta Basurto (point); 11800 m at 78°: Punta Fortalezas (point); 12990 m at 85°: Punta Estrella (point); 13500 m at 79°: Ensenada Carivisa (cove); 13500 m at 79°: Punta Limeta (point).
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo: islands
12470 m at 81°: Cayo Granma (island); 14290 m at 72°: Cayo Ratones (island); 14660 m at 65°: Cayo Paradas (island).
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo: inland
220 m at 344°: Arroyo Juan González (stream); 1050 m at 76°: Goacainabón (settlement); 2730 m at 59°: Buey Cabón (settlement); 3170 m at 19°: Arroyo Manacal (stream); 3220 m at 352°: La Celia (locality); 3500 m at 316°: Algodonal (locality).
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo: distances
4310 m at 254°: Playa Coco; 10010 m at 324°: La Josefina; 10930 m at 26°: El Cobre; 16600 m at 85°: Antonio Maceo International Airport ; 12960 m at 85°: Port of Santiago de Cuba (port); 12240 m at 81°: Marina Marlin Santiago de Cuba (marina).
Protected: 12970 m at 86°: Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca; 23740 m at 89°: Biosfera ecológica Siboney-Juticí.
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo: close by
20 m at 119°: Crucero Acorazado "Almirante Oquendo" (ES) (reef); 4080 m at 93°: Torpedero Plutón (ES) (reef); 5560 m at 92°: Torpedero Furor (ES) (reef); 12230 m at 84°: Batería Alta de La Socapa (site); 12480 m at 81°: Cayo Granma (cay); 12570 m at 86°: Bajo Diamante (reef); 12810 m at 82°: USS Merrimac (reef); 12850 m at 83°: Punto de pesca (fishing); 12870 m at 82°: USS Merrimac (1894) (wreck); 13900 m at 72°: Muelle de la Refinería (fishing); 14280 m at 72°: Cayo Ratones (cay); 14620 m at 273°: Spanish cruiser Vizcaya (wreck).
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo: on and around
Within 15 km: 9 mines & quarries, 8 guest houses & hostels, 7 historic & heritage, 6 stations & terminals, 5 schools, 4 peaks & volcanoes, 3 factories & works, 3 police & fire, 2 cuban cuisine & lechón, 2 urban parks & plazas.
250 m at 259°: Villa Sandro (guest houses & hostels); 410 m at 70°: Casa de Mio (guest houses & hostels); 1990 m at 268°: Cantera de Piedra (mines & quarries); 6190 m at 274°: Paladar David (cuban cuisine & lechón); 6460 m at 274°: Villa Consuelo (guest houses & hostels); 6880 m at 275°: Campismo Caletón Blanco (camp sites); 7190 m at 18°: Pico Cobre (peaks & volcanoes); 7230 m at 321°: Loma del Gato (peaks & volcanoes); 8760 m at 28°: Loma El Espejo (peaks & volcanoes); 9810 m at 22°: Quarry (mines & quarries); 10930 m at 27°: Parque Cobre (urban parks & plazas); 11070 m at 29°: Monumento al Cimarrón (attractions); 11070 m at 29°: Monumento al cimarrón (historic & heritage).
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo: marine life records
19 records of 19 species within 8 km, 2006 to 2024: 15 other, 2 seabirds and shorebirds, 1 crustaceans, 1 marine mammals. That is 9.4 records per 100 km².
Most recorded: Kytorhynchus (Eukytorhynchus) yusdieli, 1 (other); Promesostoma baculum, 1 (other); Schizochilus espinosai, 1 (other); Gaziella microcirra, 1 (other); Brinkmanniella tenebrosa, 1 (other); Cheliplana spuriaseminalis, 1 (other); Pandion haliaetus, 1 (seabirds and shorebirds); Gaziella cochleata, 1 (other); Coenobita clypeatus, 1 (crustaceans); Ziphius cavirostris, 1 (marine mammals); Carcharodorhynchus papillaris, 1 (other); Phonorhynchoides lalanai, 1 (other).
Records show where people have surveyed, not how many animals there are.
Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo: notes
Ask a dive centre whether the wreck can be visited.
Getting to Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo
- Navigation: the lighthouse Faro del Morro de Santiago de Cuba stands about 13 km away.
Sources and data
Name and position: Wikipedia (coordinates) (record). Distances are straight-line measurements from these coordinates. Satellite imagery: Esri, Maxar. Named places: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Positions from public gazetteers can be approximate, so confirm a location with a local operator before you travel. For a wreck this is the sinking or wreck site recorded in Wikidata or Wikipedia; the hull may since have been raised, moved or broken up.