The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-07-26
THE CASE OF THE MAINE
LAST DOU BT OF HON SHE WAS
DESTROYED REMOVED
RECORD or DAMAGE TO CERvERA'S SHIPS
Cristobal Colon Hill but Six Times. Why She
Surrendered. Vizcaya Special Prey
OF Brooklyn and Oregon.
The Other Ships.

Correspondence ~ A>~ociated Press
OF Santiago dc Cuba. Jnly - Any
doubt that MAY have existed that the
Maine was l"wn up by an "ut>ri, rx-
lloSion has been dissolved by the cxami-
nation of the destroyed Spanish ships
said Il member Of the Board of Survey
that examined the remnants Of Admiral
C"rvcra'S fleet
"Of four ships examined. three had
been blown mp by their magazines" hr
continued. and Of these, one had every
magazine exploded and torpcdos in al
dltIon. yet on none of them was ther"
the same effect produced hy the eNplo-
sion on the Maine. There Was no M
heavel Of the keel and little bulging &c
the plates except in the immediate Vi
cinity Of the explosion. The effect was
nearly altogether upward. in some cases,
the protective deck being lifted, but
outside Of the spring Of few plates
the hullS We're intact"
The examination of the wrecks Of the
Spanish ships, thrc" Of which were
burned and all their magazines exploded.
Was made. first for the purpose Of as
ccrtaining the effect Of American gun
merry and secondly to find the effect Of
internal explosion. Both subjects bore
upon the Maine incident as noted above.
and the awful effect Of well aimed shots
WAS demonstrated in rapid sinking of the
fleet. When il is remembered that he
Alnirante Oquendo and the Infanta
Maria Teresa were both sunk within
forty minutes Of the time they left thr
entrance Of Santiago harhor, til" work of
American gunncrs may well be consider
a nh Nh. MT. 4 (k.,n
do was struck over ffty-ive times and
the lnfanta Maria Teresa thirty seven
times. but by larger proicctics.
The record OF the damages 10 ;hpse
ships is one Of great interest The tight
started 1T Il range Of G,OUO yards. or
three miles At 1000 Of .. 800 yards t4yu.
torpedo boats and two cruisers Were an-
initiated. The closest lighting was don"
nj ] 100 and 900 yards by the HrooL-
lyn and Nizcaya with annihilating ef
feet on tie Spanish ship. But two pro
jcctilcS larger than ciglt-nch struck Il
vessel. both Of these, either twelve or
thirtcen-inch being put through the In
fant:r Maria Teresa The eight inch,
siX-inch. iive-inch and siN-poundcr pro
jectilcs did the bulk Of the work and
were frghtfully destructive. Some idea
of the effect can he obtained from Il
ship az found by the examining board
The board had upon il such capahl" men
as Rodgers of the Iowa. executive Off
ccr Mason. executive officer Of the
brooklyn. an expert on the effect Of
shells on armor; Lieutenant Ilncssler
of the Texas. who has made some Splcn.
did improvements in gun firing on that
ship and Naval Constructor llobson, OF
Mcrrimac fame. who has reputation
for knowledge Of ship construction.
Briefly, these officers found:
CrStobal Colon. battle>hip, first class,
with six inches Of steel for protection npt
only on the water line. but around tia"
six-inch guns. This ship was hit with
large projectilcs but six times, as il kept
out Of range nearly the whole time. pass
ing behind the other ships for protcc-
tion and finally making a run for il. The
hits We're made by the Brooklyn and Ore
gon one S-inch shell went into the port
side Of The ward room and left on the
Starboard side without exploding. bu:
cleaned everything in the room. >
inch hit just above the armor belt and -
G-inch struck her on the bow. None uf
the injuries was sufficient to put her ont
of action nor rs serious ls those recciv-
cd by the Brooklyn. ut one time her so'c
ANITA aGonist. The assertion that the
brooklyn WIS DNt1Idullli1 H.T ANA iliLI
the Oregon's terrific 1:;-inch guns were
shooting nearer and nearer and that cs-
cape was impossible. seems 10 be the cor
rect solution Of her surrender
The Nizcaya. armored cruiser. is Of the
same class as the battleship Texas and
Maine. She carried two 11.5-inch guns
and ten 100 inch guns with projections
10 and - inches thick. double and trebl,.
that Of the Brooklyn This ship was the
special prey of the Brooklyn and the
Oregon. although the Texas, after her
destructive work on the Almirante
Oquendo and Maria Teresa. added Il lit
tie long range. The NiZcaya. exclusive
of one-pounders and rapid fire hits which
swept her deck. was hit with large pro
iectiles fourteen times and by sixx
FOUNDERS eleven times The S-inch gups
iConcluded On Second Page.)