Evening star., 1898-06-28
THE SPANISH COAST.
Minute Information to Be TakeI
WatsOn's Fleet.

Minute Information to Be Taken by
WatsOn's Fleet.
When the American fleet sails for Spain
it will take with it complete information
as to the entire stretch of Spanish coast,
with detail maps of every harbor and it's
fortifications. The Spanish coast line is
2.122 kilometers long. of which 769 kilo-
meters are on the north coast, while 1853
kilometers are along the Mediterranean
and the Atlantic on the south coast. The
coast is described by naval strategists as
abrupt and mountainous, with sinuous in
let's and CULTS, resembling the fiords of
Scandinavia. In general the fortifcations
Of the coast are relics of the medieval
greatness Of Spain, and many of these old
defenses are tumbling ruins.
The Spanish coast is divided ir to three
captain generalcies, namely, Ferrol on the
north CadiZ on the south and Carthagena
on the east. At Ferrol is the naval school
and the school of naval application. At
Carthagena is the school of ordnance and
the torpedo school. Cadiz is the point
where most Of the fortificati ton guns are
made. Each of the three naval provinces
has certain number of coast towns under
its immediate care. The Ferrol division
includes the ports of Ferrol, Corruna, Villa
garcia, Vigo. Vivero, Rivardeo, Santandar,
Bilbao and st. Sebastian.
The Cadiz division includes the ports of
Cadiz, Algesiras, Malaga, Montiril, AL
msria. Seville. Huelva and the Canaries.
The Chartagera district includes the
points Of Carthagena, Alicante Valence,
Vinaroz. Tortoise, Barcelona, Mataro, Ma
jorQea, Mahon and Twice.
The total artillery of these ports, under
the rcrmal conditions prior to the war; is
as follows: 119 Krupp guns 55 Armstrong
guns, 80 Ordonez guns and large number
Of Hontoria guns. The main reliance Is
on the Ordonez guns, which are specially
for fortification purposes. They are of 2l,
"a and 30 centimeters.
A separate division Of the coast is made
for the purpose of placing torpedoes and
submarine mines. This work is divided
into four districts, with Ferrol, Cadiz Car
thagena and Mahon as headquarters. Each
town along the coast is allotted a certain
number of torpedoes. For instance, the
allotment for Barcelona alone is 500 tor
pedoes.
Many of these ports are connected by
cables, which form an additional feature of
naval attack. A cable runs from BARGE
Iona to Marseilles. Cadiz has three cables,
one to the Canaries, another to Gibraltar
and another to Villa Real. Vigo is the ca
BILE station for two lines.
The information Is in minute detail as
to the defenses of each port For instance,
Ferrol is protected on the north by a series
of three batteries and two chateaus, the
chateaus occupying points which command
PASSES from the sea. The town is encir-
cled by bastions and redoubts, of ancient
pattern, but recently remodeled. The de-
fenses of Cadiz consist of circle of eleven
powerful ports. The other harbors are
similarly defined with detail information
as to approaches, channels, depth of water,
batteries, etc.
With this full information at hand, the
nature Of the assault upon the coast of
Spain will be pretty well outlined before
the American squadron sails. At the same
time, much will be left to the commander
in-chief of this squadron. Some naval
authorities believe that the Canary Islands
will be the first point of attack, and that
the next move will be to establish q naval
base at Ceuta. a point on the African
coast owned by Spain. and opposite Glib
raltar. With this base our ships would be
within easy striking distance Of the long
stretch Of Spanish coast.