When vessels were obliged to coal at Guantanamo, forty miles distant, the next in line covered the cruising interval.

The American combined squadron was about double Cervera's in strength; his ships, however, were supposed to have the advantage in speed, and it was conceivable that, by turning sharply to the one side or the other, they might elude the blockading force.

On the very day that Cervera made his desperate dash out of the harbor, as it happened, the New York, Admiral Sampson's flagship, was out of line, taking the Admiral to a conference with General Shafter at Siboney, a few miles to the eastward.

The absence of the flagship, however, in no way weakened the blockade, for, if Cervera turned westward he would find the squadron of Schley and the other vessels designated to prevent his escape in that direction, while if he turned eastward he would almost at once be engaged with the New York, which would then be in an advantageous position ahead of the chase.
At half-past nine on the morning of the 3d of July, the first vessel of the Spanish fleet emerged from Santiago Harbor.

By 10:10 A.M.all the Spanish ships were outside of the harbor mouth.