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History Short: Naval Action In The Franco Prussian War #history #navy #ship #sea #cuba #historyfacts

In November 1870, as the Germans and French were fighting in Europe, a naval battle took place off of Cuba. The German gunboat Meteor slipped past the French blockade and reached neutral Havana. Soon after, the French aviso Bouvet arrived — and its captain issued a challenge. Escorted out to sea by Spanish warships, the two ships met ten miles offshore. Bouvet fired first, but after nearly two hours, neither side had landed a decisive hit. Then Bouvet tried to ram. The ships collided, tearing down Meteor’s rigging and jamming her propeller. As Bouvet turned to attack again, a German shell struck her exposed boiler, stopping her cold. Both ships limped back toward Havana, and Spain fired a warning shot to end the fight. In the end, no one won and the battle changed nothing.