The first USS Panther (AD-6), the former SS Venezuela, was an auxiliary cruiser and naval troop transport in the United States Navy. Panther was designated AD-6 in 1920.
USS Panther (1889)
USS Panther moored in Kirkwall Harbor, Orkney Islands, with several trawlers and submarine chasers alongside, while supporting the North Sea Mine Barrage clearance operation in 1919.
The Battle of Guantánamo Bay was fought from June 6 to June 14 in 1898, during the Spanish–American War, when American and Cuban forces seized the strategically and commercially important harbor of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Capturing the bay from the Spanish forces was instrumental in the following Battle of Santiago de Cuba and the subsequent invasion of Puerto Rico. Although overshadowed by the land and sea battles at Santiago, the establishment of the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay and the rout of defending Spanish troops by American and Cuban forces was important in the final Spanish defeat.
First hoisting of the Stars and Stripes by the US Marines on Cuban soil, June 11, 1898, Unknown author
Aerial view of Guantánamo Bay
Gallant defense of Camp McCalla, June 11