 During the next month Massachusetts took part in the blockade of Santiago , occasionally bombarding the harbor forts . On the night of 2 – 3 July she and the two cruisers New Orleans and Newark left the blockade to load coal in Guantanamo Bay . This caused her to miss the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on 3 July , in which the Spanish fleet attempted to break through the blockade and was completely destroyed . The next day the battleship came back to Santiago , where she and Texas fired at the disarmed Spanish cruiser Reina Mercedes , which was being scuttled by the Spanish in an attempt to block the harbor entrance channel . Massachusetts was then sent to Puerto Rico to support the American occupation until she steamed home to New York on 1 August , arriving on 20 August . 
