The age-herald., 1898-07-07
CERVERA'S FLEET
 THAT IS NO MORE

stihDie DelofS the outbreak Of war cOm- prising the finest ships of the Spanish nayy-saied from the mother country few days before President Mckinley cab.ed to Minister Woodford at Madrid his Cuban ultimatum. Cervera sailed ostensibly on a peaceful mission but there was no doubt that the intention of the Spanish govern ment was to make naval demonstration to impress upon the American government Spains preparedness for war and, at the same time, to have all the available naval fighting force of the monarchy as near as possible to Cuba when war was declared.
 Cervera9s squadron was made up of four armored cruisers, three torpedo boat de- stroyers and several other vessels when he left Spa,n. The most formidable vessels were the four armored cruisers. fine ex- amples of the armored cruiser type. They were the Almirante Oquendo, the Infanta Maria Teresa, the Vizcaya and the Cristo- bal Colon. The first three were sister ships, built at Bilboa, Spain, and launched in 1s50 and 1891. Their cost was given as $3, GOO, GOO each.
 These cru sers were 1000 ton ships, some- what larger than the battleship Maine. Their water-line length was 340 feet, beam 65 feet, maximum draught 21 feet inches, indicated horse power 13,0o0 and speed 20 knots. This speed they attained in their trial speeds, but when inefficient Spanish engineers took hold of them they could not develop any such speed as this. Their normal coal supply 12,000 tons and their complement 300 men each.
 Heavy armor protected the machinery of the cruisers. They had steel water-line belts 315 feet long, 51a feet broad and from 10 to 12 inches thick The two turrets on each ship were constructed of 9-inch steel. The gun positions of the broadsides guns were protected by armor 101R inches thick. In armor, these ships were far superior to our armored cruisers New York and Brook lyn. The Brooklyn's thickest belt armor is seven inches thick, and on the gun po- stions the thckest is eight inches.
 This trio of cruisers carried heavy arma- ment. In turrets, forward and aft each ship mounted 11-inch breech-loading rifles. In addition each mounted ten 51a-inch guns. The Oquendo and Maria Teresa 54- inch guns were Hontoria guns. but the Vizcaya had rapid-fire guns. Each ship carried a number of small guns, and was equipped with six torpedo tubes Spain had trouble in buying torpedoes before the
  for making torpedoes-and it is doubtful if the ships in Santiago harbor were ade- quately equipped with torpedoes.
 The Cristobol Colon was one of the new est ships in the Spanish navy. She was built at Sestri Potente by the Italian gov ernment and launched in 1896. Her name was then the Giuseppe Garibaldi IT., re- placing a previous ship by that name. Spain paid several million dollars for her and named her the Cristobol Colon, in memory of the cruiser by that name, lost near Cape San Antonio, Cuba, in October, 1885, She was 6.S40-ton ship, 3SS feet on the water line, 59 feet inches beam, and 24 feet draught. Her indicated horse power was 14000, her trial speed 20 knots, maxi- mum coal supply 900 tons and complement 450 men.
 The Crstobal Colon's armament consist ed of two 10-inch turretted guns, ten 6-inch rapid-fire guns, and six 4.7-inch, ten 2.2- inch, ten 1.4-inch and two machine guns. She also carried four torpedo tubes. Her armor consisted of a six-inch water-line belt, six inches on the gun positions and 11s-inch deck The heavy armor was of Harveyized steel
 The torpedo boat destroyers were fine Clydebank boats-the Furor and Terror, launched in 1896, and the Pluton launched last year. The first two were capable Of developing the remarkable speed Of ZS knots an hour and the Fulton was credited with 90 knots. No boat in the American navy now in commission approached them in speed. The Furor's and Terrors princi- pal dimensions were: Length, 220 feet; beam 22 feet draught, 5.6 feet; displace-
 
 complement, 67 men; armament, two 12- pounders, two 6-pounders and two l-pound- CTS. The Fulton was larger boat, regis tering 400 tons and having an indicated horse power of 75O0, 1,500 greater than the others.
 Cervera sailed straight for the Cape Verde islands, putting in at St. Vincent. On the way the little destroyers had a rough time of it. They had to be coaled at sea from the cruisers. Whey they reach- ed the Cape Verde islands repairs had to be made While Cervera was there he was in cable communication with Madrid, and learned of the declaration of war. On April 29 he sailed from St. Vincent.
 What his purpose was no one in this country knew, and opinion was divided as to whether he had gone nome or hao started for America.
 A few days after his sailing from St. Vim cent a dispatch came from the American embassy in London that Cervera had re- turned to Cadz: two days later came word from the French island Of Martinique, in the West Indies. of the arrival there of Cervera. United States Consul Darte, at St Pierre notified the state department of Cervera's arrival there, and made a pro test against allowing the eneray's ships to coal there. The French government as- sured the United States that neutrality would be observed.
 The Harvard and St. Louis had been scouting about the Leeward and Windward islands for days, on the lookout for Ger vera It was thought for awhile that Ger vera had gone in search of the battleship Oregon. which was making record-break- ing trip from San Francisco to Key west. The Harvard dropped in at St. Pierre, just in time to hear that Cervera had sailed to the westward, leaving the Terror behind for repairs The destroyers' English en- sineers had deserted her leaving her deli cate machinery to be looked after by in- efficient Spaniards
 Cervera was badly in need of coal his machinery needed repairs. He ran across the Caribbean sea and put in at the Dutch mort of Willenstad in the island or Cura- coa. Our consul kept the fleet from enter
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