This is pretty much a rough draft and I expect and hope for comments from you all on how other countries may be involved, etc... CG will certainly want to flesh things out from his side as well.
Iberian-American War of 1898
15th February : U.S.S. Maine explodes in Havana Harbor while on a goodwill visit. The US blames Iberia for the loss of the ship, claiming that evidence points to a mine planted underneath the ship. U.S. media fans the fires of war.
19th March : U.S.S. Oregon sets sail for Asia to join up with Commodore Dewey’s squadron. She will arrive in Hong Kong by late April. (Assumes that the Iberian fleet in Manila is somewhat stronger than in OTL, so the Oregon heads west instead of south.)
25th April : War officially declared by U.S. against Iberia. US fleet at Key West heads for the Cuban coast to institute a blockade while Commodore Dewey, joined by the Oregon , heads for Manila.
27th April : US fleet under Admiral Sampson begins blockades of Havana, Cienfuegos, and Santiago. Iberian fleet units in Havana prepare to sortie against the squadron there lead by Admiral Sampson.
28th April : During the night, Iberian TBD’s Pluton , Furor , and Terror launch a surprise attack on the US fleet off of Havana. The cruiser Brooklyn is hit twice and explodes with all hands lost. The Terror is sunk by US forces. US forces maintain the blockade in the expectation that the Iberian fleet in Havana will soon sortie in force for a major engagement in the Florida Strait.
30th April : The Battle of the Florida Straits takes place. Iberian forces under Admiral Cervera heads out from Havana to engage the American blockading fleet under Admiral Sampson. Sampson has 4 BB, 1 AC, and several smaller cruisers and AMC’s. Cervera has a pair of BB’s, 3 AC’s, and several smaller ships, including the Pluton and Furor . Sampson’s flag is on the Iowa . The battle results in an Iberian victory after the Iowa is badly damaged by shell fire and a torpedo hit. Admiral Sampson is mortally wounded. The fleet falls back to Key West to regroup.
1st May : Battle of Manila takes place. Commodore Dewey, with his flag moved to the Oregon from the Olympia , scores a decisive victory against the Iberian fleet in the harbor.
3rd May : Two Iberian cruisers appear off of Charleston and briefly shell the city. The damage is insignificant, but the attack, combined with the defeat off of Havana causes panic along the eastern seaboard. The Navy is forced to lift the remaining blockades in Cuba to move units to defend the east coast of the US. Commodore Schley assumes command of the fleet at Key West which was now in charge of preventing the Iberian fleet in Havana from moving north to strike the US coast. Through the month of May, any vessel on the east coast of the US capable of being armed as an auxiliary warship was so modified. Several Civil War era Monitors are sent to guard the major ports.
21st May : The thirty-five year old Monitor Canonicus engages an Iberian cruiser off of New York, driving it off. The story of the “spunky little monitor” thrills the nation still reeling from the defeat off of Havana and the shelling of Charleston.
23rd May : Iberian squadron departs for the Philippines. It will be several months before they can arrive.
2nd June : Battleships Massachusetts and Indiana engage three Iberian cruisers off the coast of Florida, sinking two and driving the third off. The war settles into a stalemate, with neither side willing to make a major move against the other. The first feelers for an armistice go out in mid June through third parties.
6th July : Formal peace talks begin between the US and Iberia. Iberia agrees to Philippine independence and recalls the fleet heading for Manila. The US officially withdraws its claim that Iberia sank the Maine , listing the cause as “unexplained”. The US agrees not to occupy the Philippines and to aid the country in becoming a stable, independent country. A strong anti-imperialist backlash in the U.S. and fear about Iberia remaining a major force in the Atlantic & Caribbean makes this process far easier
4th August : Peace treaty signed, ending the war. (Identity of 3rd parties and location of peace talks unknown as of yet.)
Dewey becomes the great American hero of the war, along with Schley, who is seen as the defender of the American coast after the disaster at Havana. Calls are made in Congress and the press for increased naval expenditures and a large building program is authorized, despite vocal opposition from anti-war forces who claim the build-up is a prelude to a new war.. A Russian Battleship (Retvizan ) and cruiser (Varyag ) building in Philadelphia are purchased by the U.S.