The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-06-08
THE HEROES OF
The: HOUR
The Story Of the Brave Deedsof Lieut.. Hob
son Will Live Forever.
Sinking Of the Vessel Carefully Planned
and Deliberately Carried Out.

opened fire on the Merrimac
| WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
on board the Merrimac can best be judged
from what Lieut.. Hobson said before leav-
ing the flagship Sitting In his cabin, his
| eyes flashing with excitement, he remarked
| HOBSON'S EXPLANATIONS.
shall 9ar 60 right into the h .n pn
| battery. which Is behind MORO castle. l do
not think they can sink me before 6 l reach
has 1000 tons bouyancy and 1 shall keep
! her full speed ahead. She can make about
! ten knots.
When the narrowest part of the channel
| is reached shall put her helm hard aport,
stop the engines drop the anchors, open the
and leave the Merrimac a wreck lying
| athwart the channel which is not as broad
as the Merrimac is long. There are ten s.
inch improvised torpedoes below the water
line on the Merrimac's port side. They are
| placed on her side against the bulkheads
and vital spots. connected with each other
by wire under the ships keel.
Each torpedo contains eghty-two pounds
of gunpowder. Each torpedo is also con-
~ with the bridge and viii ID DO Their
work even If done in a minute and a
I quarter. On deck there will be four men
and myself. In the engine room there will
be two other men. This is the total crew
and all of us will be in our underclothing
with With revoiyers and ammunition u In water vat
| tight pa cklng strapped around our waists.
and around his waist will be a, line, the
OtnoT eIlu VI TIE line DelIlS HldCc last "
the bridge on which will stand. BY that
mans side will be an axe. When stop the
| engines shall jerk this cord and he will
! will be holding the forward anchor He
| will then jump overheard and swim to the
! four-oared diAgy which we shall tow as
| tern.
THE dingy is full of life buoys and is
unsuitable In it are rifles; It Is to be
bow and one at her stern. The first man
| to reach her will haul in the tow line and
pull the dingy out to starboard. The next
| to leave the ship are the rest Of the crew:
The quartermaster at the wheel will not
| leave until after having put it hard aport
and dashed it so; he will then jump over
Down below the at the reversing
gear will stoPthe engines, scramble upon
deck and get over the side as quickly as
| possible.
The man IAN in, the engine room will, will break
| water This last step insures the sinking
of the Merriniac whether the torpedoes
'By this tirhe calculate the six men
will be in the dingy and the Merrimac will
have swung athwart the channel. to the
| fore anchors were cut loose. Then all that
is left for, me. is2Ito touch the button. 1
| shall stand on the starboard side of the
| bridge. The explosion will throw the Mer-
rimac on her sstarboard side. Nothing on
tn n s bas of MeT THAT York city will be able
And you expect to come out of this
alive?" askedHa companion of the lieu
All he said, that is another thing"
He was SO interested in the mechanical de,
to to talk TX Of Of life and death. seal ee'S s'oppeo
| But in reply to frequent questions Hobson
| said:
| NOT AFRAID OF THE BATTERIES
down on us a bit; but the ships will throw
their search lights in the gunners faces
| and they won't see much Of us. Then if we
are torpedoed we should even then be able
| to make the desired position in the channel
| 1t won't be so easy to hit US, and l think
the men will be able to swim to the dingy.
don't see that it makes much difference
what l do. l have fair chance of life
either either way II our our dngy gets shot to
| beach right under MORO CASTLE
| We shall keep together at all hazards.
Then We may be able to make our way
alongside and perhaps get back to the ship
| We shall fight the sentries squad until
the last. and we shall only surrender to
| will only take place a last and as a
most uncontempated emergency"
- Lieut. dta1 Hobson might have been lecturng
| to build ships, deliberate was his man.
| ner. He was lately at Annapolis in charge
| of the postgraduate course in naval cor
| struction and is accounted one of the most
able naval constructors in the service, being
entirely wrapped up in his profession.
| 41h fRELlM1NARY WORh.
of this desperate undertaking was strain
upon the officers and men. On Wednesday
morning directly after Rear Admiral Samp-
tain that the spanish f eet Was in TIE the h ee
| Dor, the preparations to scuttle the Merr-
| mac in the channel were commenced All
| Brooklyn were on board the collier, never
resting in their efforts to, prepare her: She
nay When the Work Was first Seaug
| The news Of the intended expedition trav-
eled quickly through the fleet and it soon
| became known that volunteers were needed
for a desperate undertaking.
| From the Iowas signal ward quickly
fluttered the announcement that she had
one hundred and forty volunteers and the
other ships were not far behind. On the
New York the enthusiasm was intense
Over 200 members of the crew volunteered
| to go into that narrow harbor and face
death The junior officers literally jumped
over each other in the eagerness to get
Commander Miller, who had charge of the
Merrimac. pleaded with the admiral to let
him go. but the latter thought he had bet
When it was learned that only six men
and Lieut. Hobson were to go there was
over the side late on Wednesday night
some of those who we're left. were almost
sit down and cry. All Wednesday night the
crews worked abroad the Merrimac. which
other ships as they passed the collier before
, shutdown chee9ed her with the same spirit
that the British men-of-war's men cheereG
the American sailors herOism at Samoa.
flagship shortly before midnight and Their
returned to t,1eo Merrmac. on board OF
which craft he bad been an day. AS he
started down the sea ladder there were
many hands stretched out to grasp his and
many quet-spoken, earnest wishes for his
success as itfwak thought then that Hob
son would take the Merrimac in early
yesterday morning
INSPECTED THE MERRIMAC
At o'clock the admiral and Flag Lieu
make an inspes fsn of the Merrimac. The
working gangs We're still on board of her
and on board the New York the officeis
| of the flagship stood on the quarterback
their glasses lfoctssed on the big, black
stacle for Spain's best ships
The minutesE slipped by; tine crews had
not completed their work on The Merr;mae
but at last a h6atload OF men. black and
of ALL at 4:3G came the admiral. tie had
been delayed by a breakdown Of the steam
launch.
Dawn was breaking over Santiago de
! Cuba and nearly everybody thought it was
too late for the attempt to be made thai
morning. Then somebody cried: She's 60
ing in"
| Surely enough the seemingly deserted col
Her was seen heading straight for Morre
| castle.
| The torpedo boat Porter, lying in
near the flagship and at the admirafs order
! Lieut.. St:unton snatched up the megaphone
there tell the Merrimac to return immmedi-
ately.'
Smoke quickly poured from the Porter
smollestacks and the dark little craft dart
ed toward the shore
By that time darkness had quite disap-
| Dcarod and QuCickly the fast torDpdC