The Dickinson press., 1898-08-06
ADMIRAL ERvERASEND

AUmlnRlI EMU.
Technical Description Of the
Great Sea Fight at Santiago.
STORY OF An OFFICER on THE IOWA
A1azm Given BY the Iowa-Before Signal
1lags We're Up Other vessels Pushed For
Places Allotted { Them For Such an
Ensfxsscy = Fleet Destroyed In Less
Than an Hour-Captain Evans Refused
20 Take Away Eulateis sword Recep-
ton Of Admiral Cervers.
A naval officer on the Iowa, writing
under the date of July 4 about the fight
between q part Of Admiral SIMPSONS
squadron, under command Of Comma
dore Sohley, and Admiral Cervera's
feet says:
On Sunday morning, July 8. our
watching ships lay rolling in the easy
surges of the entrance to the harbor Of
Santiago. Their distances from the
guarded haven varied from 1000 to
5000 yards, and there, with an unspar.
ing a~lertness, they waited for that prom
Used dash which all hopedf or, but feared
might never come. A little after three
bells In the forenoon watch the inspec-
tion Of the ship had been concluded, and
q Lieutenant Van Du1er, the officer of
the watch, was relieving the navigating
officer, Lieutenant Scheutze, then officer
Of the deck, he heard a quick cry to call
the captain, followed by a shout. "There
come the Spaniards out of the harbori"
The trained eye Of the alert officer had
marked the thin trail Of drifting smoke,
and before the signal, "Clear ship for
action, - had been given the bows Of the
Spanish vessels, rushing in Zine
ahead" were seen darting around So
oapa point for the open sea-
In a moment all was hustle and eager
energy. Men rushed to their quarters,
guns were trained, and in less than 30
seconds the whistling shrek of a rapid
fire gun warned the startled feet Of the
hot work awaiting. In two minutes ev-
cry gun On shipboard was cast loose,
manned, loaded and ready for the long
expected signal to fire. At the yardarm
Of our battleship a string of signal flags
warned the feet the enemy was trying
to escape, but even before the answer
ing pennants of the other ships an
nounced their understanding Of the
message every vessel was dashing to the
stations long before allotted for the
emergency which had come q: last.
It was o splendid spectacle. The Span
iards with bottled steam cleared the
harbor's mouth seemingly in a moment.
Under their eager prows a column Of
foam whitened the long pillows, and
their bubbling wakes left a furrow as
straight and sharp as a racing yacht
making a winning run for the finish
line. Their course was shaped for the
westward, but as fast as they sped in
their desperate break for freedom faster
flew the shells of the pursuing Amer
leans. The first heavy she'll from the
Iowa's battery fell short, and then, by an
unlucky mischance, so did the second,
but afterward the rain of shot fell sure
ly and unsparingly upon the fleeing foe.
Not a whit behind in this eager fusil-
1ade reared the batteries of the Spanish
ships. Their port %broadsides famed and
grumbled, but it was more a splendid
display Of fireworks than a successful
effort to damage the unframed targets
Of the Yankee ships. In 10 minutes aft
or they were discovered the four Span
ish armored cruisers had cleared the
wide entrance, and five minutes later the
torpedo boat ~destroyers, hugging the
beach and seeking the sheltering broad
sides of their sister chips, few into the
turmoil of the action. At this time ev.
cry gun Of the American squadron that
could be brought to bear was pumping
projectiles into the enemy. In an in
slant it almost scanned one ship Of the
Vizoaya class burst into flames, caused
undoubtedly by q long, sure shot from
the Oregon or the Texas. A minute
later a 10 inch p~rojectile sent from the
1owa's forward turret struck the flag
ship Maria Teresa neal her after smoke
pipe. A tremendous explosion followed.
Then she was shrouded in smoke and
was lighted with lurid flames, and then
when the powder cloud blew down the
wind she was seen, helm hard aport,
rushing for the beach.
Twenty-Five minutes after. the first
ship had been sighted half the Spanish
feet had surrendered or was on fire. As
NJ vessels rushed toward them every
ship was hulled time and again, and it
almost seemed in the sureness and di-
rectness Of our batteries as If It were
the target practice Of summer morn
ing and not the annihilation Of asquad-
ron. Even this interval would have
been shortened measurably, for aiding
them and hindering us was the cloud Of
smoke which often concealed and at the
best only half revealed the wrecked ene-
my. 1t was q grand, sad sight, a pa
thetio one to seamen, who know how
much patient thought and patriotic
effort had gone into the construction Of
these splendid vessels, now lying,
bruised and burning, on the shores they
had hoped to defend. There was no
time, however, to indulge in emotions
Of sympathy or Of pity, for still rushing
eagerly westward, closely followed by
the New York and at a farther dis
tance by the Indiana, came the torpedo
boat d~estroyers. In the hot eagerness Of
destruction we turned loose our smaller
guns on these loudly heralded and in
effective craft, and finally by a lucky
hit dropped q - inch shell into the
bow Of the leading destroyer. At the
same instant the little Hist was rapidly
closing upon them, pouring a sickening
fire into their fragile bulls.
The Gloucester Joined in this SPLEEN
did assault, and 60 sure and SO effective
was their rain Of rapid fire p~rojectiles
that both torpedo boats SWING their
helms hard aport, ran for the shore and
buried what was left Of them among
the pitiless rocks Of the coast. BY q
quarter past 10 we were in full cry
after the other Spanish ships, then about
four miles ahead and busy with hot re-