Spanish-American War. War between Spain and the United States in 1898, as a result of the US intervention in the Cuban war of Independence. Cuba. Spanish 1st class cruiser 'Reina Mercedes' (1892), iron-hulled, converted into a floating battery to defend Santiago de Cuba harbour entrance. Illustration by A. de Caula. Photoengraving by Laporta. La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana, 1898. (Photo by: Prisma/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)