The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-06-11
p,tal at Brooklyn to nurse the wounded
and sick sailors who were sent from
Sampson's fleet on the Solace. & ~
ANOTHER BIG FLEET

ofsirtcen wnrsiips Formed TO Convoy
tho Troop Transports-!TheS Powerful
4 gnottieship Indiana Heads the; List. e
4 WASHINGTON, June 10. = Another
formidable American fleet has assem-
bled, consisting of sixteen warships OF
various classes. headed by the bis bat
tleship Indiana, which, for all-round
effectiveness, stands at the head OF the
navy. This fleet Is assembled at Port
Tampa, and Is to serve as O convoy
for thes troop Transports from that
point. The formation OF this formida-
Bile convoy fleet is due to the reports,
more or less definite, that Spanish ships
were seen lurking between Florida and
Cuba, with view OF intercepting the
troop transports. The navy department
has not given serious credit to these
reports, yet they were more or less Cir
,chmstantIal In order to avoid the
slightest possibility OF a dash by the
Spanish ships against the troop trans
ports, this new fleet OF sixteen warships
was determined upon. Whether It was
ordered from Washington or was due
to the precautionary measures OF the
officials In command In the, south Is
not disclosed. 1t is known only that
Commodore Remey, commander OF the
naval base at Key West, has brought
together this powerful fleet OF convoYs.
1t Is strong enough both In numbers
Of ships, size OF Individual ships and
armament. to cope with any Spanish
vessels that might be at large In the
West Indies. and II entirely eliminates
any possible danger; that might attend
the transporting OF the army Of inva-
sion, 10 Cuba. Captain Taylor, who
commands the Indiana, Is available as
as commander OF this squadron. al-
though 1t Is not disclosed definitely
who will be Its chief. Commodore Wat
son Is with the blockading feet of Ha-
,yana and cannot well be spared from
that position, which will be maintained
efficiently Notwithstanding the drafts
made, to create this large convoy squad:s
rom. Captain Taylor IS regarded as one
OF the most judicious and capable off
GERS In the service. and should the COM
mand fall upon him, It Is felt that It Will
be Unable hands. n
Indians VIII be the Fla gslip.
The Indiana will probably be the flag
ship Of the convoy squadron. There
probably will be other battlcships, but
1t Is not deemed advisable, for pruden-
tial reasons, TO give the full list OF the
ships In exact detail. The Indiana Is
considered one OF the most formidable
ships afloat, being regarded by naval
experts as superior rs a fighting ma
chine to the ships OF the Terrible class
In the British navy. She has a dis
placement of II, ,2SS tons, and has main
battery OF sixteen large guns, besides
many smaller rapid fire guns and ma
chine guns In her secondary battery.
Her largest guns are OF the thirteen
inch class, four In number mounted
in turrets, two forward and two aft.
The desira blli.y Of forming this fleet
was suggested by the Information, COM
Ing through official channels, that Span
ish ships left Barcelona some days ago,
bound for Cuban waters. This inform
alton Game to the state department.
It was to the effect that the ships In
cluded three Spanish warships and one
transport. The information was re-
garded as trustworthy. 1t was COM
municated to the navy department, and
led to careful consideration. A little
later came the reports from the ships
of Florida that suspicious s-looking ves-
sells, with military tops, had been seen
In the offing. These reports were re-
ceived with some credulIty, but naval
officers were disposed 10 dismiss them
as myths. They were treated lightly,
and some officials spoke OF the matter
as another case OF the Flying Dutch,
man." But the better advised ones,
~ tn
Ing on Spanish ships from Barcelona.
looked upon the matter as one which
should not be dismissed too lightly. a.
single troop transport, carrying no ar
NOR, might be at the mercy OF some
stray Spanish ship. and there was no
purpose to hazard the lives of 1900
men on any OF our ships when reports
came from two widely separated
sources, one OF them quite In detail, Of
the approach Of the Spanish ships. III
aj Tho Convoy Fleet.
While It is inexpedient to give the
exact makeup OF the convoy fleet, vet
some general idea may be given OF the
warshlps which might be drawn upon
FOR this service. There are n number
OF ships which have been doing scout
duty, and others have been held In re-
serve. while Commodore Watson's large
bloclsndlng fleet In front OF Havana
slyes another source from which the
convoy fleet can be made Up. The fine
auxiliary ships, like tho Yale and Hur-
ward, with the torpedo boats. could he,
.uscd for scout duty, their swlttness
permitting them to SO far ahead rs
pIckets for the approaching fleet. The
smaller cruisers, gunboatsf and torpedo,
boats are also available. Some OF the
ships which could be used with the
Indiana are the Helena, Bancroft, Mar
.intta, Newport, Wilmington, Castine.
Cincinnati, Detroit, Montgomery, An
napolls, VicksburE, Ericsson, Dupont,
Gushing, Toote. AS stated, there Is no
desire to give this as on exact list OF
the convoy squadron, but It merely In
dlcates with what facility the naval au-
thorities can meet present conditions,
without In any way weakening hd-
miral Sampson's command off Santiago
OF Commodore Watson'sS command on
Havana. Admiral Sampson will still
have ten or moro, ships, including the
formidable battleships Iowa. Texas
Massachusetts and Oregon, and the ar
morcd cruisers New York md Brook
lyn. The blockndl,g squadron VIII con-.
tlnue to have twelve or moro ships, in.'
Guiding the four big monitors, Puritan,
Terror, AmphitrIte and Miantonomah.
slR Besides tho fleet OF sixteen convoy.
vessclg, there will be from twenty 20
.Hny transport ships, making In all q.
remarkable il1tllla OF transports and
naval conveys. sjs N a z. I'm II
e Tho wnr department TO. day gaye out