Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1898-07-26
70 SCnEY IS TIE clED|I.
An Examination of the Wrecked
Spanish Men-of War Shows the
Work of His Flagship.
SAID TO HAVE SUBMITTED A REPORT.
Information of This Report To secre-
tnry Long Was Obtained from
Private Sourcc-ss2npscn Was IG-
nored Tie Iowa Also Left Its
Marks on the sInken fleet.

Washington, July 23.-A press cor
respondent off Santiago de Cuba, I'M
der date of July -, says: Any
doubt that may have existed that the
Maine was blown up by an outside
explosion has been dissolved by the
examination of the destroyed Spanish
Ships" said a member of the board of
survey that examined the remains OF
Admiral Cervera's fleet.
"Of four ships examined, three had
been blown up by their magazines"
he continued, land of these, one had
every magazine exploded, and tor
pedoes in addition, yet on none of
them was there the same effect as that
produced in the explosion of the Maine.
There was no upheaval of the keel
and little bullying of the plates except
in. the immediate vicinity of the ex-
plosion. The effect was nearly al
ways upward, in some cases the pro-
tectiye deck being lifted; but, outside
of the springing OF u few plates, the
hulls were intact"
The examination of the wrecks of
the Spanish ships, three of which were
burned and all their magazines eN
ploded, was made, first for the purpose
of ascertaining the effect of American
gunnery, and second to find the effect
of internal explosion. Both subjects
bore upon the Maine incident as noted
above, and the awful effect of we'll
aimed shots was demonstrated in the
rapid sinking of the feet. When 1t
is remembered that Almirante Oquen-
do and the 1nfanta Maria Teresa We're
both sunk within 40 minutes of the
time they left the entrance of San
tiago harbor, the work of American
gunners may we'll be considered as
remarkable. The A!mirante Oquendo
was struck over So times and the In
fanta Maria Teresa 81 times, but by
larger projectiles.
The record OF damages to these
ships Is one of great interest. The
fight started at range of 5000 yards,
or three miles. AT 2,000 yards or $500
yards, two torpedo boats and two
cruisers were annihilated. The clos
est fighting was done at LOO and 1000
yards, by the Brooklyn and Ni2caya,
with annihilating effect on the Spanish
ship. But two projectiles larger than
eight-inch, struck vessel, both of
these, either IL or ls-inch. being put
through the Infanta Maria Teresa.
The eight-inch, siN-inch, tiveinch and
six-pounder projectiles did the bulk
of the work and We're frightfully de-
structiye. Some idea of the effect can
BIO obtained from brief summary of
the injuries to each ship as found by
the examining board. The board had
upon it such capable men as Executive
Officer Rogers, of the Iowa; Executive
Officer Mason, of the Brooklyn, an eN-
pert on the effect of shells on armor;
Lieut.. Huessler, of the Texas, who has
made some splendid Improvements In
gun firing on that ship, and Naval
Constructor Hobson, of Merrimac
fame, who has reputation for knowl-
edge of ship construction. Briefly,
these officers found:
Cristobal Colon, battleship, first
class, with six inches Of steel for pro-
lection not only on the water line, but
around the six-inch guns.
This ship was hit with large projec-
tiles, but six times as it kept out of
range nearly the whole time, passing
behind the other ships for protection
and finally making run for 1T. The hits
were made by the Brooklyn and Ore
gon, one eight-inch shell went into the
port side of the ward room and left
on the starboard side without explod-
Ing, but cleaned out everything in the
room. A fve-inch hit just above the
armor belt, and six-inch struck her
on the bow. None of the injuries was
sufficient to put her out of action, nor
as serious as those received by the
Brooklyn, at one time her sole antag-
onist. The assertion that the Brook
.yn was overhauling her and the Ore
CONS terrific 13-inch guns were shoot
ing nearer and nearer and that escape
was impossible, seems to be the cor
rect solution of her surrender.
The Nizcaya is of the same class as
the battleships Texas and Maine. She
carries two 11.5-inch guns and ten So
inch guns with protection 10 and 10
Inches thick, double and treble that of
the Brooklyn. This ship was the spe-
cial prey of the Brooklyn and the Ore
gon, although the Texas, after her de-
structiye work on the Alnirante
Oquendo and Teresa added little at
long range. The Vizcaya, exclusive of
one Founders and rapid-tire hits which
swept her deck, was hit with large
projectiles Id times and by six pounds
,ers IL times. The eight-inch guns of
the Brooklyn and Oregon and the six
inch guns on the Oregon and five-inch
on the Brooklyn tore her structure
above the armor belt almost into
shreds, while the six-pounders and one
Founders made it too warm for the
men to stand at the guns. The Texas
got in few six-inch shots and the
Iowa landed couple of four-inch
shells. No 10 or 12-inch shells struck
her.
The Infanta Maria Teresa, the flag
ship, of the same build as the Nizcaya
was badly punished and was the only
one of the four ships hit by 10 or 49,
inch projectiles. She has two of that
size clean through her, and the posi-
ton of one would tend to demonstrate
that it was fired by the Texas. An
eight-inch shell, undoubtedly from the
Brooklyn, because she was the only
ship in line with the Maria Teresa's
head as she turned west, entered lust
forward of the beam on the port side
and, exploding inside, cleaned out the
deck with four gun crews. This is
a \