Battle of Cazones Gulf (Cinco De Mayo)

The Battle of Cazones Gulf, referred to in Spain as the Battle of the Canarreos, was a naval engagement on October 16-17, 1915 south of the island of the Caribbean between the Spanish 8th Fleet and the US Navy 2nd Fleet, which concluded with a decisive victory for the Americans, with six enemy ships sunk against no ships lost and less than one hundred casualties. The battle, coming six months after heavy Spanish losses at San Juan, ended any pretense of Spanish projection of power in the Caribbean and essentially ended Spanish participation in the war, not only in the Western Hemisphere but in Europe as well, where the Spanish home fleets would be devastated in early 1916 by the British Navy at the Battle of Biscay.

The clearing of the Spanish fleet, in concurrence with the retreat of a Confederate Naval group from the Gulf of Batabanó, led to the American landing at the Bay of Pigs on October 30, 1915 and the Battle of Havana on December 5-8, 1915, which was the climax of the Battle of Cuba.