The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-07-26
construction. Briefly, these officers

DAi1Ag OAAASLAS
found:
The CristobaI Colon, battleship, first
class, with six inches of steel for pro-
lection, not only on the waterIine, but
around the 6-inch guns. This ship was
hit with large projectiles but six
times. as it kept out of range nearly
the whole time. passing behind the 9TH
er ships for protection n finally
making a run for il. The hits were
made by the Brooklyn and the Oregon.
One S-inch shell went into the port III
Of the ward room and left on the star
board side without exploding. but
cleaned out everything in the room. A
5-inch shell hit just above the arnor
belt and a 6-inch shell struck her on
the bow. None of the injuries were
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
Iyn was overhauling her and that
the Oregon's terrific 13-inch guns were
shooting nearer and nearer and that
escape was impossible seems TO be the
corrct solution OF her surrender.
The Vizcaya, armored cruiser, is of
h same class as the battleships Tex
as and ain She carried two
1f.5-inch guns and ten 5.5-inch guns,
with projections ten and twelve inches
thick, double and treble hat of the
Brooklyn. She was the special prey
of the Brooklyn and the Oregon. al
though the Texas. after her destructive
work on the Almirante Oquendo and
the Teresa, added a little at long
range. The Vizcaya, exclusive of
1~-pounders and rapid fire hits which
swept her deck, was hit with large pro-
J%ectiles fourteen times and by
6-pOunders eleven times. The S-inch
guns on the Oregon and 5-inch on the
Brooklyn tore her structure above the
armOr belt into shreds, while the
6-pounders and 1-pounders made it
too warm for men to stand at the
shots and the Iowa landed a couple of
4-inch shells. No 13-inch or 12-inch
shells struck her.
The Infanta Maria Teresa, the flag
ship, of the same build as the Vizca-
va, was badly punished and was the
only one of the foul ships hit by -
or 12-inCh prOjectiles. She mas two of
that size clean through he~ and the
position of one would tend to demon
strate that it was fred by the Texas.
An 8-inch shell, undoubtedly from the
Brooklyn, because she was the onIy
ship in line with the Maria Teresa's
head as she turned west, entered just
forward of the beam on the port side
and, exploding inside, cleaned out the
deck with four gun crews. This is the
shot that Cervera said came from the
Brooklyn n set fire to the ship. The
Teresa's great difficulty and one that
compelled her hurried surrender was
that all fire ain were cut and she
was unable to e%xtinguish the fires that
were driving her men from the guns
The Almirante Oquendo, armored
cruiser, same class as the Vizcaya end
Teresa, went through the most terri
BILE ordeal of any of the ships, ex-
cept the torpedo boats. Her upper
works were n ragged mass OF cut
up steel and her decks were covered
with dead and dying. She was hit en-
the port side fou times by S-inch
shells, three times by 4-inch shells,
probably from the Iowa, two times by
6-inch and forty times by 6-pounders.
The innumerable number of 1-pounders
that struck her show that she met
the fire of the entire fleet as she turn
ed last away from the torpedo boats
that followed her and the secondary
battery shots intended for them hit
her. One Of the findings of the board
of survey was that an S-inch shell had
struck the forward deck just where
the gun opening w and that every
man in the turret was killed, the Off
( GERS standing in the firing hood being
still in that position. Another fact
learned was that the tOrpedoes in some
of the ships were already loaded in
the tubes ready for firing.