The evening times., 1898-12-26
TWELVE TROPHIES OF WAR.
4 Dozen Spanish Warships Fly the
SfnrS and S;rincS

] htlhG 4O4 illtt ol'eAltaSh I4INii-tl-H a. -
now flying the Stars and Stripes as per-
manent additions to the American Navy.
TWO Of these have arrived at the Norfolk
navy yard, seven are attached TO Rear
Admiral Dewey's command, and three,
Just raised al Manila, have been sent to
Hongkong, where they are To be rebuilt.
Those hoated at Manila had been lying in
the mud of the bay since May ! last,
when Dewey's feet entered the harbor
and destroyed or sunk eleven vessels.
Despite the loss OF the four armored
cruisers sunk by the American fleet at
Santiago de cuba on July ). the authori-
ties are well satisfied with the possession
of a round dozen OF former Spanish
men-of-war- II is intended that the three
ships just raised at Manila--Don Juan de
Austria. Isia de Luzon ana Isla DE- Cuba
slan be put in the best possible condi
ion. not only because they are trophies
ol war. bur for the service they viii be
able to render among the Philippine
Islands.
These vessels were raised by the skill
and perseverance of Naval Constructor
O. W Capps, as is attested by this ca
p4GSl1l recently ItteiNt'l ~ IorCIttelIs
Long from Rear Admiral Dewey:
Secretary of the Navy, Washington
.'Isla de Luzon. Isla de Cuba and Don
Juan de Austria have been raised ard
docked. Ny anticipatious as 10 their
value fully realized. VIII leave short y
| for Hongk0nG under their own steam.
| Constructor Capps deserving of the high
,st commendation.
IL was intended that Mr. Capps should
| have charge of the reconstruction of the
raised vessels. but after considerat tion Of
| the matter and in view of the need of his
/ services at the Union Iron Wo.ks, vine re
! he is supervising constructor in charge
| oI the construction of the battleshigs Wis
consin and Ohio il was determined to or
| der him to return TO the United States
and 10 send Naval Constructor Robson
| - Hongkons to supervise the work.
| aI- Hobson would have preferred to so
| Ia Santiago as the representative of tee
| Government in connection with the float
ing of the Reina Mercedes and the Span
sh armored cruisers AT that pace, but
! the department decided he would be more
| useful At Honskong, and accordingly
| issued the necessary orders.
Although a great deal of work will be
| necessary to repair the isla De Austria,
| Mr.. Capps has notified Chief Naval Con-
| structor Philip Hichhorn that the total
! cost of repairing and raising them win be
only 450GC0 Mexican dollars, or S226 Goo
American gold.
Mr.. Camps said" MI Hichborn said.
that when the Hongkong company
which was awarded the contract COM
pIetes the work, the vessels will be as
good as new. being supplied with ali
! equipment and ready to return TO Manila
| whenever this Government desires. OF
course the H0ngkOng company will not
| be required TO furnish guns, but il will be
expected TO put them and their mounts in
| good condition. The vessels are just what
| we need among the Philippines, and, in
fact, they were especially built by Spain
| for such service. They are small, OF light
draught, and of good steaming radius,
! and will be able to enter the shallow har-
| boTs which abound in the islands,
The ordnance with which the Spanish
| ships were supplied ranged from the an
cient 10 the modern and of such diversi-
fed calibers that it was surprising there
was not great confusion in the handling
and distribution of ammunition. The
| Alvarado and SandovaI were armed each
| with one 81 nm. and one 81 mm.; the
| Barcelo with two machine guns of q
mm and two torpedo tubes: the CalIao
| with one Hontoria 3.5-inch and one Hon.
| toria 2.75-inch. The Leyte carries one
Hontoria 2.75-inch and two NordenfeIdt
| II mm machine guns; the Manila is sup
/ piled with two bronze guns, and the Min
! danao is equipped with one bronze rife
of 4S-inch and one machine gun of II
| nm. The Don Juan de Austria was
| armed with four 47-inch Hontoria brecch-
loading rifles, four 6-pound rapid-firing
/ guns and one machine gun and the Isla
de Cuba and Isla de Luzon each had a
battery comprising six 4.7-inch Hontoria
| breech-loading rifles, four 6-pound rapid
| firing guns two 1-inch Nordenfeldt and
two 0.53-inch Nordenfeldt.
| LAS the gun mounts were built to meet
| the peculiarities of the vessels said Capt
| Charles ONeil, chief of the Bureau OF
| Ordnance. lit seems to me it will be wise
! to retain the mounts now on board the
! ships repair them and remount the guns
If they have been dismounted There
| would be no difficulty in securing 4.7-incf
ammunition. The New Orleans has g
number of guns of this caliber and dur.
| ing the war a large quantity of ammuni.
| ton for them was secured.
''The surplus supply can be sent to Mani
Ia for the use of the vessels there. Besides
| I have received an offer from an American
firm wiling 10 supply the Government with
such ammunition. Although the heavies
| guns of the Isla de Cuba, Isla de LUXOR
| and Don Juan de Austria are not of the
| rapid-firing type. still they will be very
| serviceable. Should the ships ever come
to the United States, then 1t might bs
| considered advisable to fit them out with
/ rapid-iring batteries
Besides the ships named 1t is hoped b,
| the officials of the Navy Department thai
the cruiser. Mercedes can be raised and
successfully brought to United States. A
contract has been executed with the Mer.