The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1898-05-05
FIRST NAVAL BATTLE A
VICTORY FOR UNITED STATES.

la and the protection of the forts
the bay. SO Admiral Dewey kept on
and passed the forts at the entrance to
the bay just before dawn There was
some firing from the batteries, but the
squadron did not reply, and there has
been no report whether the shots took
effect. With the dawn, Cavite opened
lire from her heaviest guns, and at
once the Olympia fired her eight-inch
forward cannon in reply. From this
this the firing became general. Ad-
mlral Montejo, in the Reina Christina,
went boldly to meet the foe.
He was soon engaged with the
Olympia, a cruiser of much
superior force, and though he
inflicted much injury, his ship was set
on fire and crippled by the 0lympia's
heavy guns. Admiral Montejo was
urged to leave the ship, which was in
a sinking condition, and was at last
forced to do so and transfer his flag.
The captain was shot dead by the ad
miral's side as he was leaving the
doomed flagship, and devoted men
were falling all around them. The
transfer of the flag was deed of des-
perate daring, for all the ships of the
Spanish fleet were under terrible
fire. The admiral was forced to seek
the armed transport Isla de Cuba,
which had suffered less damage than
the Others
Meantime some of the American
ships withdrew to the west of the bay,
and the Olympia and Baltimore fol-
lowed. Wound d were sent ashore in
a position out of range Of the Spanish
fire, and the Americans returned to
the attack. With the Reina Christina
destroyed and many of his other ships
shattered, gallant Admiral Montejo
was hard put to it for defense. He
forced the Americans to maneuver,
however, and got them into positions
of great danger from the fire of the
forts.
In the second attack the Baltimore,
Olympia, Concord and Boston made
straight for the crippled Spanish ships,
firing their heavy guns with great
rapidity. The Spanish gunners stood
nobly to their guns and answered shot
for shot as best they might. But
weight was on the American side, and
soon the large wooden cruiser Castillo
was on fire and all the efforts of the
crew to extinguish the blaze were un-
availing. The Americans continued
to pour their fire upon the doomed
vessel, and to prevent the magazine
from exploding she was scuttled and
the crew made for the shore in their
boats or upon pieces of shattered
spars.
The Don Juan d'Austria was even
less fortunate. She, too, was crippled
by the shots Ct the Americans, and in
her helpless condition could not escape
the storm of shot and shell. Suddenly
her magazine exploded. A great cloud
of smoke, from which flames seemed
to leap, was seen to rise above the
faithful ship and she was seen-no
more. The little gunboat Mindanao
and the cruiser Dona Antonio d'Ulloa
were in the thick of the combat and
sustained heavy fire for an hour.
lucu tuey were dDle W uIdW u"uy
under the forts, though suffering
serious injury. Seeing that they were
apt to fall into the hands of the en-
emy the crews of the smaller boats
sunk their vessels or set them on fire
and risked their lives in the waters of
the bay. All this time the guns in the
forts were firing at the American war
ships.
Vessels Which Participated in the Battle.
Following are the two fleets engaged
in the naval battle before Manila:
Olympia, first class protected cruiser,
{, 800 tons, speed 81 knots; Baltimore,
second rate, 1900 tons, speed zoe
knots; Boston, second rate, 3,1S9 tons,
speed Is knots; Raleigh, second class,
speed 10 knots; Concord, third rate,
/, 700 tons, speed II knots; Petrol,
fourth rate, 800 tons, speed ID knots.
The SPANISH SHIPS. .-Reina Maria
Christina, 3,52O tons; Castillo, 3,342
tons; Don Antonio de Ulloa and Don
Juan de Austria, each 1,13O tons,
speed IA knots; General Lezo and Ell
Cano, gun vessels, 524 tons; speed
11.5 knots; Marques del Duero, dis.
patch boat, 500 tons; Isla de Cuba and
the Isla de Luzon are both small gun
boats. They are of 1,030 tons dis.