The herald., 1898-07-27
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SPECIAL WIRE

WASHINGTON, July 26.-The navy de-
partment today made public the reports
Of Admiral Sampson. Commodore Schley
Captain Clark of the Oregon and Captain
Evans of the Iowa on the battle of July 3D.
which resulted in the destruction of Ger
vera's squadron. They are as follows
UNITED STATES FLAGSHIP NEW
YORK. FIRST RATE. Off Santiago de
Cuba. Cuba, July IS, 1898. Sir:
First-I have the honor to make the fol-
lowing report upon the battle with the de-
struction Of the Spanish squadron, COM
manded by Admiral Cervera. off Santiago
de Cuba. on Sunday, July 3, 1885,
Second-The enemys vessels came out of
the harbor between $3.50 and 1000 In, the
head Of the column appearing around Cay
smith at 9:31 and emerging from the chan
mel five or six minutes later.
Third-The positions of the vessels Of my
command off Santiago at the moment
were: Flagship New York was four miles
east Of her blockading station and about
seven miles from the harbor entrance. She
had started for Siboney where l intended
to land. accompanied by several of my
staff, and go to the front to consult with
General Shafter for a discussion of the sit
ing between us of the operations pro-
posed. This had been rendered ne
cessary by the unexpectedly strong
resistance OF the Spanish garrison
at Santiago. had sent my chief
of staff on shore the day before to arrange
an interview with General Shafter, who
has been suffering from heat prostration.
I made arrangements to go to his head
81 -l~l,~ eli
ton mentioned above when the Spanish
squadron appeared in the channel. The re-
naming vessels were in or near their usual
blockading positions. distributed in a semi
circle about the harbor entrance, counting
from the eastward to the westward in the
following order: The Indiana about mile
and half from shore; the Oregon in the
New York's place between these two, then
the Iowa, the Texas and Brooklyn, the
latter two miles from the shore west of
Santiago. The distance Of the vessel from
the harbor entrance was from two and one
half to four miles, the latter being the
limit of day blockading distance. The
length of the arc formed by the ships was
about eight miles. The Massachusetts had
left at am. for Guantanamo for coal Her
station was between the Iowa and Texas.
close to the land and nearer to the harbor
entrance than the larger vessels, the
Gloucester to the eastward and the Vixen
to the westward. The Ericsson was in COM
pany with the flagship and remained with
her during the chase until ordered to dis
continue, when she rendered very efficient
srevice in rescuing prisoners from the
burning Vizcaya. 1 enclose a diagram
<o11 ftn ,ncitf nv,u of
the vessel as described above.
Came Out Flying
Fourth-The Spanish vessels came rapid
ly out of the harbor at speed estimated at
from eight to ten knots and in the follow
ing order: Infanta Maria Teresa (dagship),
Vizcaya, Cristobal Colon and the Almirante
Oouendo The distance between these ships
was about 800 yards, which means that
from the time the first one became visible
In the upper reach of the channel until the
last one was out Of the harbor an interval
of only about twelve minutes elapsed.
Following the Oquendo at distance of
about 1900 yards came the torpedo boat
destroyer Pluton and after her the Furor.
The armored cruisers, as rapidly as they
could bring their guns to bear, opened
vigorous fire upon the blockading vessels
and emerged from the channel shrouded IN
the smoke from their guns.
Quick Signaling, Quicker Work
FYfth-The men of our ships In front of
the port were at Sunday quarters for In
spection. The signal was made stimuli
taneously from several vessels, "Enemy's
ships escaping" and general quarters was
sounded. The men cheered as they sprang
to their guns and fire was opened probably
within eight minutes by the vessels whose
guns commanded the entrance. The New
York turned about and steamed for the
escaping fleet, flying the signal, "Close In
towards harbor entrance and attack YES
sels," and gradually increasing speed un-
I'll toward the end Of the chase she was
making sixteen and one-half knots and
was rapidly closing on the Cristobal Colon.
She was not at any time within the range
of the heavy Spanish ships, and her only
part In the firing was to receive the undi-
yided fire from the forts in passing the
harbor entrance and to fire few shots at
one Of the destroyers, thought at the mo-
ment to be attempting to escape from the
Gloucester.
Sixth-The Spanish vessels, upon clearing
the harbol, turned to the westward in col
umn increasing their speed to the full
power Of their engines. The heavy block
aiding vessels, which had been closed in to-
ward MORO. at the instant of the enemy's
appearance and at their best speed deliv-
cred a rapid fire, well sustained and de-
structive, which speedily overwhelmed
and silenced the Spanish fire. The initial
speed Of the Spaniards carried them rapid
~ past the blockading vessels and the bat
tie developed into chase. in which the
Brooklyn and Texas had at the start the
advantage Of position. The Brooklyn main
tanned this lead until the Oregon, steaming
with amazing speed from the commence
ment OF the action, took first place. The
iowa and Indiana had done good work, and