Sistersville oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1896-1901, 1898-07-06
To the Navy in Defeating the
Spanish
It Has Been Menace to Samp-
= sons Fleet.
And Terror I'm Imagination to All
Men-The viviciOus Little Boat Made
Dash at the UnarmOred Cruiser
st. Pau1.

Washington, June 2S.-The navy
department today posted the fol-
lowing bulletin:
Admiral Sampson reports that
the Yale arrived today and dis,
charged her troops.
Captain Sigsbee reports that on
Wednesday afternoon while off
San Juan, Porto Rico, he was at
tackled by a Spanish unprotected
cruiser and the Spanish torpedo
boat Terror. The Terror made a
dash which was awaited by the ST..
Paul. The st. Paul hit the Terror
three times, killing one officer and
two men, and wounding several
others. The Terror dropped back
under cover of the Notifications
with difficulty and was towed into
the harbor in sinking condition
where she is now being repaired.
Later a cruiser and a gunboat
started out but remained under
protection of the forts.
In defeating the Terror, Captain
Sigsbee rendered a most important
service to our navy, and indeed to
all navies. He has not only de-
prived SIMPSONS fleet of apprehen-
sion of an attack in the rear some
dark night by this vicious little
boat, but he has demonstrated that
an auxiliary cruiser is amply able
to take care of herself against a tor
pedo gunboat. showing that the
offensive power of this craft has
been very much over-rated.
The torpedo gunboat was an TN
tried quality in naval warfare up
to this time. Swifter than a tor
pedo boat, seaworthy, and pos
sessed of the armrment of which
the torpedo boat is void, the torpe-
do gunboat has been a terror in
imagination to all naval men. The
presence of such Spanish gun
boat, the Temerario in the river
Platte in the pathway of the Ore
gon on her cruise around South
America, was for several weeks a
cause tor great anxiety at the navy
deparement. Now Captain Sigsbee
has shown that with an unarmored
cruiser armed with only 5-inch guns
the torpedo gunboats are not feared
at least not in daylight.
The Terror is of English build,
having been turned out at Clyde
bank in 1896. She is low lying
steel craft with steel tunnels, is Of
$40 tons, 22o feet long, 22 feet beam
and 5 feet E inches draft. The boat
is filled with engines and boilers,
her horse power being 5000, capa-
bic of driving her at speed of %
knots with Norman boilers. While
the ordinary torpedo boat carries
only little one FOUNDER gun, the
torpedo gunboat is armed with a
formidable battery for a vessel OF
her size, consisting Of two IA
Founders, two 6-pounders and two
I-pounders, all quick firing and
having two 4.inch torpedo tubes
On deck.
The other Spanish cruiser refer
red to by Captain Sigsbee in his
report as joining in the attack upon
the St. Paul is supposed here to be
the Alfonso XII, an iron bark
rugged cruiser built in 1887, of
5000 tons. While an old vessel,
she has pretty good battery made
up of fourteen Hontoria guns of
various calibres, FIVE machine guns
and two torpedo tubes.
AS soon as Captain Sigsbee's re-
port came to hand the officials at
the navy department Immediately
recalled the fact that the Spaniards
had last week sent out a bulletin
describing the flight of an Amer
can cruiser before two Spanish YES
sells off San Juan, and that particu-
lar engagement was identified as
the same referred to by Captain
Sigsbee.