On June 3rd, the auxiliary cruiser St. Paul returned to New York, after a two weeks' cruise in West Indian waters; she had been detailed for guard and scout duty, and was one of the first to discover the Spanish fleet in Santiago Bay. She left Key West May 18th, and arrived off Santiago about the 20th. The St. Louis had been detailed for similar service, and had been watching Santiago harbor with the expectation that the Spanish vessels would attempt to enter there; she, however, left on the 19th. It is supposed that Admiral Cervera must have entered the harbor in the twenty-four hours between this date and that of the arrival of the St. Paul.
As it was advisable that her whereabouts should not be discovered to the Spaniards, the St. Paul cruised backward and forward about twenty miles out; she kept this distance off shore in order that the Spanish torpedo-boats might not make a dash out of the harbor in the darkness and torpedo her.

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