The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-07-29


partment today made public the re-
port Of Admiral Sampson on the de-
struction Of Cerveras squadron, off
Santiago, July 3rd. 1t is as follows:
off Santiago de Cuba, July 15 1898.
Sir-I have the honor to make the
following report upon the battle and
destruction of the Spanish squadron
commanded by Admiral Cervera, off
Santiago de Cuba, on Sunday, July 3rd,
1898.
The enemy's vessels came out of the
harbOr between 9:35 and 1000 o'clock
Il. m, the head of the column appear
ing around Cay Smith at 9:13 o'clock
and emerging from the channel five or
six minutes later.
The positions Of the vessels of my
command off Santiago at that moment
were as follows: The flagship New
York was four miles east Of her block
aiding station, and about seven miles
from the harbOr entrance. She had
started for SibOney, where / intended
to land, accompanied by several of my
staff, and go to the front to consult
with General Shafter A discussion of
the situation, and a more definite un-
derStanding between us of the opera
tiOns proposed had been rendered ne
cessary by the unexpectedly strong re-
SiStance of the Spanish garrison of
Santiago. l had sent my chief of staff
on shore the day before to arrange an
interview with General Shafter, who
has been suffering from heat prOstra-
ton | made arrangements to go to
his headquarters, and my flagship was
in the position mentioned above when
the Spanish squadron appeared in the
channel. The remaining vessels were
in or near their usual blockading po-
SitiOns, distributed in a semi-circle
about the harbOr entrance, counting
from the eastward to the westward in
the following order: The Indiana
about a mile and a half from shore,
the Oregon, the New YOrks
place between these two, the Iowa.
Texas and Brooklyn, the latter two
miles from the shore west of Santiago.
The distance of the vessels from the
harbOr entrance was from two and one
half to four miles, the latter being the
limit of day biockading distance. The
length of the arc formed by the ships
was about eight miles. The Massachu-
setts had left at 4 o'clock a. m. for
Guantanamo for coal. Her station was
between the Iowa and the Texas. The
auXiliaries Gloucester and Vixen lay
close TO the land and nearer the har-
the Gloucester to the eastward and the
Vixen to the westward. The torpedo
boad Ericsson was in company with
the flagship and remained with her
during the chase until ordered to dis
continue, when she rendered very eff
ficient service in rescuing prisoners
from the burning Vizcaya. / enclose
a diagram showing approximately the
positions of the vessels as described
above.
Four Spanish ships came rapidly out
of the harbor at from four to six
knots, in the following order: Infanta
Maria Teresa Olagship), Vizcaya, Cris-
tobal Colon, and the Almirante Oquen-
do. The distance between these ships
was about 500 yards, which means that
from the time the first one became Wis
ibie III the upper reach of the channel
until the last one was out of the har-
bor, an interval of only about twelve
minutes elapsed. Following the OQuen-
do at a distance of about 1900 yards,
came the torpedo boat destroyer Plu
ton, and after her, the Furor. The ar
mOred cruisers, as rapidly as they
could bring their guns to bear, opened
a vigorous fire upon the blockading
vessels. and emerged from the chan
mel shrouded in the smoke from their
guns.
The men of our ships in front of the
port We're al Sunday quarters for in
spectiOn." The signal #TaS made SIM
ultaneously from severa.A vessels, En-
emy's ships escaping" and general
quarters was sounded. T e men cheer
ed as they sprang to then 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 toward harbOr entrance and attack
vessels and gradually increasing
speed, until toward the end of the
chase she was making 161a knots and
was rapidly closing on the Cristobai
Colon. She was not. at any time, with
in the range of the heavy Spanish ships
and her only part in the firing was to
receive the undivided fire from the
forts in passing the harbOr entrance,
and to fire few shots at one of the
destroyers, though they at that mo-
ment were attempting to escape the
GlouceSter
THE CHASE.
The Spanish vessels in clearing the
harbor turned westward in column, in
creasing their speed to the full power
of their engines. The heavy blockad-
ing vessels, which had closed in to-
ward the MORO at the instant OF the
enemy's appearance, and at their best
speed, delivered a rapid fise, well sus-
tanned and destructive, W.. eh speedily
overwhelmed and silenced Ne Spanish
FIRE The initial speed of thu Spaniards
carried them rapidly past the blockad-
ing vessels and the battle developed
into chase in which the Brooklyn and