sentences:  The warship operated from that port through the remainder of March and the first three weeks in April.On Monday, the 25th, President William McKinley reluctantly ratified a joint resolution of Congress which proclaimed that a state of war had existed between the United States and Spain since the previous Thursday.During the next fortnight, the warship patrolled the northern coast of Cuba near Havana, Cárdenas, and Matanzas.