The times., 1898-12-19

boiAs VI the iiSiHS Squauron commanded
| by him has just been given out for pub
/ lication by the Navy Department. The
! report covers the operations of the
squadron from May 10 to May 80, inclus-
i've
In his usual unassuming manner, Ad-
miral Schley meets and defeats by sim
pie, truthful narrative and detail the CO.
vert purpose of Admiral Sampson, who
| sought to advance his own pretensions
by intimating in his report of operations
covering the period from May to July
that Schley had willfuily disobeyed his
orders
on the contrary, the report shows that
Admiral Schley did obey all orders and
that any confusion concerning the
whereabouts of Cervera's squadron at
that time was shared jointly by the war
miral Schley.
The report follows:
Flying Squadron, L. S. Flagship Brook
lyn,
on Santiago de Cuba, May 30, 1898.
Sir: ! have the honor to report that
| the squadron sailed from Key West on the
morning of the 18th instant for Cienfue-
| Sos Cuba, in obedience to orders from
Rear Admiral Sampson. In company with
the flagship weres the Massachusetts
Texas and Scorpion. En- route, passed the
Marblehead, Nashville, and Wasp, COM
| municating with the last-named vessel
OFF Cape Antonio communicated with the
Cincinnati and Vesuvius. scouting
On the morning of the 2Sd instant
! the squadron stood in for the entrance
of Cienfuegos Harbor to reconnoiter and
later in the day passed the entrance twice
close in. AS had heard the firing of guns
on the previous afternoon in the direction
of the port, and as there was consider
able smoke observed In the harbor / was
led TO believe that the Spanish squadron
might have arrived there. That day the
Dupont Joined me with dispa tches from
Admiral Sampson, directing that the
blockade of Cienfuegos be preserved and
! that the Scorpion be sent to communi-
cate with the Minneapolis and Harvard,
off Santiago. Also on this day the Iowa
Joined the squadron.
A line of blockade was established about
| four miles off shore. and at night an in
| shore line was maintained, consisting
varieus.y of the Scorpion, Dupont, and
| Castine, the last-named vessel arriving
on the 2sd, conveying the Merrmac.
Also on the sd instant, the Hawk ar
| rived with dispatches from Admiral
| Sampson, directing me to move eastward
! with the squadron to Santiago. il salts
fled that the enemy's vessels were not in
! Cienfuegos. Not being satisfied at this
| time that they were not there, / held my
position, being further strengthened in
my opinion by the fact that l was in
/ formed by the captain of the British
| steamer Adula that when he left Kings
| ton a cablegram had been received. on the
! Thursday preceding my arrival off Glen
| fuegos stating that the Spanish squad
ron had sailed from Santiago.
| The Iowa, Castine. and Dupont took
| coal from the collier on that day. the
Iowa particularly needing coal, as she had
sailed from Key West TO join this squad
ron before completely coallng. and conse-
quentiy was considerably short.
| Not at Cienfuegos.
| On the 24th Instant the Marblehead.
| Vixen and Eagle joined the squadron, and
| the Marblehead and Eagle were immed-
! lately sent to communicate with the in
surgents to the westward OF Cienfuegos,
! and to furnish them with ammunition,
clothing and dynamite. Upon Commander
NcCalIa's return, In the course of tile
afternoon. he reported to me that he had
| obtained information that the Spanish
squadron was not in Cienfuegos- Dis
matches were at once sent by the Dupont
| to Admiral Sampson and to Commodore
| Remey for the department, indicating tnat
| this squadron would move toward San
| tiaso de Cuba.
Great difficulty has been experienced in
| coaling the Texas, on account oil her pro-
iecting sponsors. in any seaway whatever,
\
| conditions can she go alongside collier.
| In anything more unfavorable than ab-
| solutely smooth water there is great dan
| ger of injury either to- the Texas herself
| or TO the collier. In this connection the
advantage of a tumblehome to the side is
very marked, insuring great freedom from
| accidents due to projections on the snip
| side
After dark on the evening of the 2ith,
the SQUADRON stood 10 sea, to the east
ward. with the Brooklyn, Massachusetts.
Iowa and the Texas in column natural
order: the MarbIehead, Vixen and Eagle
on the outer flank and the collier inshore
of the battleships. The Castine was left
at Cienfuegos to notify the Scorpion on
her return, should she not be sighted by
us. to proceed to Key West in company.
The run to Santiago was marked by rain
and rough weather to such an extent that
the Eagle was unable to keep up a speed
| of rs to SIS knots and fell behind so much
as to seriously delay the squadron, which
was forced to slow to speed of from 10
knots for her to regain and hold her
position. As this rough head sea contin-
ued with no apparent prospect of abating.
and as the Eagle coal supply was becom-
ing dangerously low. she was sent to Port
Antonio, Jamaica, for coal. with direc-
tions to make the best of her way back
to Key West.
On arriving off Santiago de Cuba, the
| collier Merrimac was disabled by the
breaking of her intermediate pressure
valve stem and the cracking of the stuff
ing box. This served as further EN-
4 barrassment to the squadron and a source
| of considerable anxiety, as, with the
| weather conditions that had prevailed
| since leaving Cienfuegos, 1t appeared alb
solutely necessary to abandon the position
off Santiago and seek a place where the
| vessels could be coaled and the Golfers
machinery repaired.
Difficulties OF Santiago.
Off Santiago the st. Paul. Yale and Min
neapolls were sighted and communicated
with The Minneapolis reported that she
| only had sufficient coal to reach Key
, West, and that her machinery was in bad
condition. The coal supply of the other
| two scouts was also much reduced. Ar
| rangements were at once made whereby
| the Yale was to tow the collier. and as the