In my travels to American forts I have come across many, many captured Spanish guns. This one might be the coolest: It's from the Spanish ship that fired the first shot at the US Navy as she steamed from Santiago Harbor on July 3, 1898, as part of the greater Spanish-American War; Admiral Cervera's flagship, the Maria Theresa. This gun was wrenched from the wreckage of that ship once it had been taught what happens when one opens fire on the US Navy in 1898. The Infanta Maria Theresa, a Spanish Armored Cruiser, was launched in 1890. Click here to see this ship! The gun in front of the Groton Monument may be one of the five visible along the ship's side.