The Portland daily press., 1898-07-06
THE MAINE is AVENGED.
Comment of Commander Wainwright
When Spanish Ships Went Down.

When Spanish ships Went Down.
Ten miles west of the entrance of the
harpor of Santiago de Cuba, Sunday
July 3, 4 P. m.-by the Associated Press
despatch boat Wanda to Port Antonio,
JAM, Monday morning, July 4, via
Kingston, July 4-4.45 p m.-Soon after
Admiral Cervera surrendered he WAS
taken to the Gloucester at his own re-
quest.
There was no mistaking the heart
broken expression upon the admiral S
face as he took the prodered hand of Capt
Wainwright, and was shown to the lat.
ter's cabin, but he made every effort to
bear brayely the bitter defeat that had
come to him.
He thanked the captain of the Glouces-
on the gallant fight and then spoke
| earnestly of his solicitude for his men on
shore.
He then informed, Capt. Wainwright
| that Cuban soldiers were on the hills
preparing to attack his unarmed men
| and said he thought his sailors had
| suffered enough in their battle with the
|
to surrender his entire command, but he
| asked that safe protection be given to his
men until they could be taken off in the
American vessels.
| Capt. Wainwright had heard similar
| reports from his own officers regarding
the presence of Cubans in the brush and
| he sent a guard of armed sailors ashore
to prevent the Spanish prisoners from
| being molested.
| For hours after Admiral Cervera went
aboard the Gloucester, the Infanta Maria
| Teresa, Almirante Oquendo and Viscaya
continued to burn, and every now and
then deep roar accompanied by burst
of flame and smoke from the sides of the
| ships would announce the explosion of
| more ammunition or another magazine.
AS the flames shot higher and higher
| above the decks of the magnificent yes
sells that had composed Admiral Cervera' S
fleet, many of those who witne ssed the
scene felt it had a strong connection with
the destruction of the American battle
ship Maine in Havana harbor five months
ago.
Lieut.. Commander Wainwright, the
commander of the Gloucester, was execu-
tive officer of the Maine at the time of the
disaster, and although he remained in
Havana harbor two months after the ex-
plosion he lived on board the despatch
| boat Fern and steadily refused to set his
| ASSV w ullA uit0 Olby unUll, w uS0 Lib wv IL
words, the time should come when he
| could go ashore at the head of a landing
party of American blue jackets.
Today, it was his ship that sank two
| Spanish torpedo boat destroyers, and af-
! forwards received the Spanish admiral on
board as a prisoner of war.
| From his position on the bridge Of the
| Gloucester, Lieut.. Commander VAIN
wright watched the flames and smoke
roaring through the decks of the three
greatest swarships of the Spanish navy,
| Hhlch were soon reduced to nothing but
| shattered masts and twisted smokestacks
protrudtng above the, water to that of the
picture in Havana harEor.
| it was not strange, therefore, that he
remarked to his brother officers beside
him: 1.-THE Maine is avenged"
| just then the Pluton and the Furor
sank. The Gloucesters boat picked up
i as many 3f the survivors as she could
find on the shore. The prisoners of war
included the captains of both boats.
| None offered any resistance and were
glad to go to the Gloucester as they feared
an ATTACK from the Cubans.
| A number of the survivors, including
officers of the Furor, who, 1t was report
ed, had their legs shot off, were scattered
along the coast for some distance and
could not be found.
| Three officers and six men Of the Pluton
escaped from the shore in one of their
own boats and pulled to the Associated
Press despatch boat Wanda, where they
remained until their captain, who was
held prisoner on the Gloucester, ordered
them to join him on the latter vessel.
The most remarkable feature of the
combat was the fact that, notwithstand-
ing the utter destruction of the Spanish
fleet and the hard fight those ships made
even after they were on fire, the Ameri-
can vessels should escape without injury.
| The only thing this can be attributed
to is the poor marksn anship of the Span
| ish gunners, which has been SO well de-
monstrated in every other conflict of the
war.
| The Newark Commodore Watson's flag.
ship. did not participate in the great
capture, as she was coaling at Guam
| tanamo.