The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-05-10

within mE1s u,d a half OF the Santa
Clara batteries. { fmmander Smith. OF
the Morrill,. was the .fFst 10 rca4ize the
danger into which the reckless pursuit
had led them. He conclude; It was time
to haul of. and sent a shot across the
bow OF the schooner. The Spanish skip
per Instantly brought his vessel about.
but while she was still rolling In t1e
trough of the sea with her sails tapping
an S-inch shrapnei she'll came HURTING
through the air from the water battery.
a mile and a half away. II passed over
the AorrlH between the pilot house and
the smokestack and exploded sswS than
fifty feet on the port quarter. The small
shot Scattered against her side. Il was
a close call Two more shots followed in
quick succession. both ~shrapnel. One
burst close under the s~tarboard quarter.
filing the engine room with khe smoke
of the explosion OF the shell and the
plcded just beyond. The Spanish gun
ners had the range and their tiu1e fuses
were accurately set. \ crews OF bota
ships Were at their guns. Lieutnant
Craigc. who was in charge of the bow
4-inch ra2id-fire gun of the Morrill,. asked
for and obtained permission 10 return the
fire. At the first shot the Nicksburg.
which was in the wake OF the Morrta.
in shore. sheered off and passed
to windward under the Morril's stern.
In the meantime. Captain Smith also
put his helm 10 port and was none too
soon. for as the Morrill, stood of. a
solid s-inch shot grazed her starNoard
quarter and kicked UP tons OF water as
il struck a wave lao yards beyond. Cap
tain Smith said afterward that this was
undoubtedly an s-inch armor piercing
projectile and hat ii would have passed
through the Norrilrs boilers had ne not
changed her course in the nick of time.
All the guns OF the water battery were
now at work one OF them cut the ia
ladder OF the Vicksburg adrift and
another carried away a portion OF the
rigging. As the Morrill, and the V!Cks-
burg steamed away their aft guns were
used. but only a few shots We're fired.
The MorrilTs 6-inch gun was elevated for
400 yards and struck the ~earthworks re-
peatedly. The Nicksburg fired but three
shots from her 6-pounder. The Spaniards
continued to fire shot and shell for
twenty minutes. but the shots We're in
Some of them Were so wild that
they aroused the American 'jackieS' TO
ieers. The Spaniards only ceased firing
when the Morrill, and the Nicksburg were
completely out of range. II all the Span
ish gunners had been suffering from
their practice could not have
been worse.
The officers of both the Morrill, and the
Nicksburg frankly admit their own reck-
l~essness and the narrow escape OF their
vessels from destruction. They are firm
ly convinced that the pursuit of the
schooner was a neatly planned trick
which almost proved successful. If any
one of the shots had struck the thin
skin Of either vessel, it would have Of
fered no more resistance than a piece of
paper to a rifle ball.
The accurate range Of the first few
is accounted for by the fact that
the Spanish officers had ample time TO
make observations. The bearings Of the
two vessels We're probably taken with a
range finder at the Santa Cara bat
terry. and as this battery is probably con-
nected by wire with Moro, they were
enabled to take bearings from both points
and by laborious calculations they fixed
the positions of the vessels pretty ac-
With such opportunity for OBJ
servations il would have been no great
trick for an American gunner to drop a |
shell down the Smokestack of a vessel. |
AS soon as the ships sheered off. after |
the first fire. the Spanish gunners lost
the range and their practice became ludi-
crous. If they had waited five minutes |
longer before opening fire Captain Smith
says, it would have been well nigh i'm
possible to have missed the target.
THE MORRILL, CAPTURES A PRIZE. |
Later in the day the Morrill, captured
the Spanish schooner Espana. bound for
Havana, and towed the prize TO Key |
West.
On Friday the French school ship FriG-
cite Dobourdieu, carrying thirty guns in
all entered the harbor Of Havana. She
was stopped by the Morrill,. and two
salutes We're fired by the Annapolis be
fore she showed her flag.