The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-10
SNEAKING CRAFT DISCOVERED
BY THE WIDE-AWAKE MEN OF THE
CRUISER NEW ORLEANS.
Guns of Several Vessels Turned
Picked Up, but the other Sunk.
tlHl
CcOpyrisht. Uses. BY the Associated Press,


night, was directed against a Spanish tor
pedo boat destroyer, probably the Furor or
the Pluton. The character of the enemy
was not definitely known until the next day,
when the torpedo boat. Porter found two
loaded torpedoes floating off shore. Neither
| of them had been discharged. One sank,
but the other was hauled on board the Por-
| ter. 1t exactly fitted the description of the
| torpedoes carried by the Puton and Furor.
| 1t is believed the torpedo boat destroyer es-
| capped. She was seen by the New Orleans
| when too far away to do any damage and
the heavy fire must have driven her back.
When the New York arrived she would have
had time to slide along the shore and back
into the harbor.
The daring attempt. of the Spaniards,
which was fortunately frustrated by the
vigilance of the New Orleans's lookout, is
the first instance of its kind since the be-
| ginning of the war. 1t illustrated how hard
| it is to hit small object at night. AS seen
from the flagship the scene was brilliantly
dramatic. The New York was lying sew
eral miles to the east of MORO Castle. The
| New Orleans was on her starboard hand,
| close in shore, ready to pouncs upon any
| craft which might attempt to steal out UNI
| DER the shadow of the hills. Shortly after
10 o clock the New Orleans flashed her pri-
| Vate signal. 1t was answered by the flag
| snip, and in few seconds colored lights
| sprang up into the darkness from the New
| Orleans's deck. They sgnified that the en-
envy was in sight. A little later she burned
another colored light. This meant that a
hostile torpedo boat was approaching, al
though later Captain Folger of the New
orleans, was not certain whether this was
correct. Instantly the semi-crcle of block
aiding ships flashed night signals. For six
or seven miles east and west of the harbor
they twinkled brilliantly in the darkness,
and then went out. simultaneously flashes
OF fire shot from the New Orleanss Sides
ON BOARD THE FLAGSHIP
On board the flagship men had jumped
! out of their hunks and hammocks in an
| swer to the order TO general quarters
! They stood in groups on deck around the
guns, watching the short, sharp flames
which showed the activity of the New Or
leans's rapid-fire battery. The flagship was
then too far away to hear the sound Of the
firing or see its objects. The New Orleans
kept her brilliant searchlight playing in all
directions, and oth6t ships near her did the
same. On the decks of the New York the
marines were crouched down, peering into
| the darkness. watching for the sailors
most dreaded enemy, the torpedo boat. The
| lookouts were in every conceivable spot, and
the New Orleans seemed to be firing. Every
| now and then sparks and red fire flew up in
the distance. marking the explosion of
| shells Many persons then thought they
| were exploding on a torpedo boat, but to-
day it is believed they found their mark on
| shore.
The moon, which had been hidden behind
| the clouds. came out at about IL o'clock.
| The New York was then steamng at full
| speed towards the shore to head off, If pos
sible, the retreat of the enemy into the har-
Dor; The evolutions had to be carried on
| with great care to avoid getting in line of
the fire OF the other American ships The
| searchlghts played frequently and private
| signals burned brightly. A dim object, like
small boat enveloped in smoke, was seen
on the port hand from the signal bridge. and
Ensign Muslin reported to Captain Chad
wick: "A torpedo boat one point forward
on the port beam side. headed this way"
| Captain Chadwick, with Rear Admiral
| Sampson, was on the forward bridge Be-
| curious lurking object disappeared. 1t must
! have been two or three miles away from the
New York and the same distance from the
New Orleans.
The Oregon grim and big. crossed the
New Yorks bows in the direction the tor
pedo boat was reported The torpedo boat
was still headed for shore. When a mile
away and close to MORO Castle. an object
was seen against the cliffs 1t was thought
| to be a torpedo boat and the New York'S
| forward eight-inch guns beloved out, maxi
! ing hideous noise in the quiet night. light
| ing up the crowded decks and filling the
air with bright yellow smoke. On shore
| few sparks close to the dark object showed
| X.
six-pounder guns followed suit and. for a
| few minutes, sharp fire was kept up The
boom of the Oregon's big guns was twice
heard to the eastward. Cease firing" was
| then sounded. The searchlights failed TO re-
veal the presence of the enemy and nothing
but the bare coast could be seen. After a
| to her station and the men went back to
! their hammocks. There had been no firing
| from the forts Ind accounts differ as 10
whether the toPbedo boat did or did not fire.
Captain Folger reported that he had sight
ed small steamer, perhaps I agunnoat; mat
and thatYhe had fired on her. He believed
she had escaped along the beach or had been
DESTROYED. he could not tell which That
| ended the night attack and the first expert
ence here with torpedo boats in naval war
ToRPEDoEs FOUND.
1t was not until the Porter found the tor
pedoes that the danger of last nights affair
was fully realized. The Porter was steam
| ing two miles from shore. and well TO the
eastward of MORO Castle. when two tor
pedoes were seen floating on the water.
Ensign ellis jumped overheard and swan
around them. He tried to unscrew the war
nose. but the torpedo itself turned too easily
in the water. He returned to the Porter.
and Commander Fremont finally got one of
the torpedoes safely on board The other
sunk as he was getting it in. Commander
Fremont then brought the torpedo alongside
the New York. 1t was a fourteen-inch
Whitehead, of modern make, and worth
! about $500 1t was i'm perfect condition,
and had any of our ships struck Il while
it hoated it would have exploded and, per-
haps sunk the ship. Therefore the find was
not only valuable. but most fortunate A
curious fact is that the torpedo which sunk
had an exercise head on and had no war
nose. and would not have exploded. This
either means that the Spaniards terri
bly, ignorant or careless about torpedoes
| Precautions against a night torpedo at
| tack have been distinguishing feature of
Admiral SIMPSONS policy ever since the
commencement of the war, and last night
proved the efficacy of the arrangements.
Everything moved as smoothly as If i'm the
case of day engagement. In spite of the
difficulty experienced in seeing the enemy,
had a torpedo boat yentured anywhere near
the effective range of fire IL would undoubt-
eddy have been shot TO pieces. Ii is possi-
bic that there were two torpedo boats out
last night, although only one is believed to
have approached anywhere near our ships
The ability of a Spanish torpedo boat de-
stroyer to get out from the harbor is not
regarded as sign that the Merrimac does
not block the channel leading into 1t. Tor
pedo boat destroyers draw so little water
and have so little beam that it is scarcely
expected the sinking of the Merrimac would
prevent them from coming out. IL is espe-
cially certain. however. that big ships could
not follow suit. even II they wished TO. which
Is unlikely.
Two curious pictures of war were presents
ed yesterday In the afternoon the Spanish