The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1898-07-13
Exploits of the American Navy

Exploits of the American Navy
From the ST. Louis Globe Democrat
The achievements of our navy IN the
war with Spain are source of wonder to
the world. They surprise our own peo-
pie by the greatness of the result IN com
parison with the small casualty list and
the absence of serious damage to our
ships. Dewey destroyed one fleet with
out the loss of a man. Sampson has sunk
the best feet Spain ever owned, in con-
struction one of the best afloat, and only
one of his sailors was killed. Not an Ameri-
can ship was more than slightly injured.
On the Spanish side the loss of life was
frightful At Manila and Santiago near
" 1900 Spanish sailors were killed,
drowned or wounded, and larger num-
Der made prisoners. All this sounds like
a story of impossibilities and not reali-
ty of modern war. The Spanish sailors
were not afraid to face death IN battle,
though there was a lack of aggressive
purpose in the leadership of their fleets.
They have physical courage, and the
ships they lost at Santiago were mechan-
ically equal to any swift armored cruis-
ers in the world. That they could be
wiped out so summarily will arouse deep
interest in all navy departments. The
military significance of the matter is pro
foundly important.
Four Spanish cruisers and two torpedo
destroyers, all of the best type, came out
of Santiago harbor to fight their way
through our blockading squadron and es
cape to the open sea. They had the adj
vantage of choosing their time and of
placing every man at his post in complete
readiness for the work in hand. The
guns of formidable caliber on the
Spanish feet numbered eighty, and
equal to that of a battleship. But
in a running fight of less than three
hours every vessel was sunk. No doubt
the Spanish admiral intended TO make
the fight destructive to us, but our fire
was too terrible, and to avoid surrender
the ships were run ashore. 1t was a
slaughter, yet the Spanish had the equip
ment for tremendous battle, even though
the odds were against them. Our ships,
large and small, went straight at the
mark, with every man alert, confident and
eager to perform his duty to the utmost.
The single thought in our crews was to
fight with the most determined energy
and perfect GOODNESS.
Writers on naval subjects throughout
Europe will be certain to take the navy
of the United States as a topic of SUI
preme interest. What is the secret Of its
extraordinary effectiveness? The cost
of its maintenance has been compare
lively small, averaging not over $4,000
600 year in the last four years. One
reason for the superiority is the intelli-
gence and high spirit of the American
crews. Their sense of manhood is de
veloped under our free institutions. They
take deep pride in their profession, and
strive to attain improved results in all
the details requiring skill. An American
naval officer will always take his ship in
to action unless the odds against him
absolutely forbid it. The invarable rule
is to fight with fighting chance. Ameri-
cans possess marked mechanical genius
and modern feet affords field for it,
exercise. The prestige of a hundred
years of great victories is behind our
navy. Without anything of the braggart
spirit, Americans may speak of their
navy as one of the most remarkable or
CARNATIONS known to history.