The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-06-11
DETAILS OF THE TORPEDO ATTACK.

on Board the Associated Press Dispatch
boat Daunuess. on Santiago de Cuba,
Sunday, June 3. via Kingston. June g.
s:55 a. m.-lCopyrighte1 lSeS by the Asso-
ciated Press Friday night II was be-
licved that a night attack on the Ameri-
can fleet ~ one or both OF the torpedo
dcstroyers OF the Spanish feet had been
frustrated by the vigilence Of the New
orleans. and that the destroyers had been
repulsed and driven back into the harbor
by the fire poured into them by the New
orleans. New York and Massachusetts,,
1t was this heavy firing which led to the
report which reached Port Antonio sun
day that the destroyer Terror had been
surrounded and sunk Friday night as she
was trying TO slip into Santiago harbor
The latter report is now known to have
had no foundation and there Is a conflict
OF opinion among the officers Of the fleet
as to whether the New orleans had in
reality met a torpedo Ooar. When the
firing was begun on Friday night it was
dark and the object at which the guns on
our ships fired did not seem to be close
inshore. railroad line connects San
tagn with Cayo point, n distance of fifteen
miles the site Of iron manufactures. The
track runs along the waters edge and the
trains which carry supplies and probably
war material. are only run at night ana
without lights. II is possible that in the
darkness a fast train may have been mis-
taken, as one was last week, for a tor
pedo boat. But the discovery by the Por-
. Col 81
noon floating in the water two miles
from shore tended to strengthen the the
ory Of those who insisted that a torpedo
attack had been attempted. The torpedoe'
were of the Schwartz KOpf pattern,
which are not used by our ships. II they
were discharged at one of our vessels by
the destroyers. the Standards must have
had n bad case of nervous fright, as one
had on only a practice head. a blank
cartridge. This fact leads to the belief
that the torpedoeS picked up by the Por-
ter were fired Friday morning at the Mer-
rmac, when she was discovered entering
the neck of tho harbor, probably by the
Reina Mercedes, which now lies a wreck
of Cayo Smith, where the harbor neck
broadens. After being fired they may
have drifted out with the tide If this
theory is confirmed the momentary panic
caused by the sudden appearance of our
ships and the belief which has prevailed
that the whole American fleet was at
tempting to force an entrance might ac-
count for premature discharge Of a
torpedo before the war head was affixed.
With deliberate preparation for torpedo
attack 1t would hardly be likely for the
war heads not to be adjusted
| OF course 1t is possible there may have
been a torpedo boat attack on Friday and
| that one of the reserve torpedoes got
adrift, or If one of the boats was sunk
the torpedo may have got loose from its
moorlngs as the ship plunged and wen:
down, The torpedoes were evidently set
to float after being discharged.
In our navy all torpedoes are set to
sink when they have run their course.
The Spaniards may have reckoned on
keeping them afloat in the hope that one
of our ships would stumble on 1t in the
dark and share the fate of the Maine.
King Yuen, one of the Chinese ships at
the battle of the Yalu, is supposed by