The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-06-06
Cushing's deed, Hobson's desperate
undertaking was conceived by him

T
undertaking was conceived by him
who executed it.
When Rear Admiral Sampson Joined
Commodore Schley on Wednesday the
latter had elready ascertained that II
would be impossible for the fleet to
crawl into the rathole in which the
Spanish fleet had taken refuge. The
mines across the entrance and the bat
| teries which commanded 1t made the
mere contemplation of 1t an act of
IDLY.
Commodore Schley was inclined to
think the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius
might be able to countermine, but tho
ships would have to go in single file,
and IL one were sunk in the channel
the progress of the others would be
blocked. 1t was then that Lieutenant
Hobson conceived the scheme of sink.
ing the big collier across the harbor
entrance, and asked to be- allowed to
execute 1t himself. 1t seemed certain
death and almost certain failure, but
Hobson was so enthusiastic that his
confidence was infectious, and the ad-
miral finally reluctantly gave his con-
sent.
Would Not Sail Under False Colors.
The plan Of allowing the Merrimac to
run in under the Spanish flag, with the
fleet In feigned pursuit, firing blank
cartridges and blazing the path to the
harbor entrance with search lights,
was considered, but abandoned, be-
cause Lieutenant Hobson and his vol.
unteer crew did not want to die, Ii
their lifes should be sacrificed, under
false colors. They wanted to 60 down
with the Stars and Stripes floating
proudly from the Merrimac.
When the admiral's consent was OBJ.
tanned Lieutenant Ho5son became inn
patient Of all delay, and that very
night, Wednesday, after the moon
went down, he set the time for the at
tempt. Volunteers were called for
on all the ships Of the fleet, and whole
cheering crews stepped forward at the
summons for the extra hazardous duty.
About 800 on board the New York.
some 1870 on board the Iowa and like
proportion from the other ships vol
unteered, but Lieutenant Hobson de-
Cided to risk as few lives as possible.
He picked three men from the New
York and three from the Merrimac.
The latter we're green in the service,
but they knew the ship and had plead
ed hard to go.
Other men selected from various
ships, with Ensign Powell in command,
manned the launch, which was to lie
at the harbor mouth and take off those
who escaped.
Lieutenant Hobson had his plans
carefully prepared. The seven mon
who were to risk their 's's in her
were as cheerful as scht on
frolic, despite "a hours Sit yssnesl
and hard work. Murphy was to cut
loose the forward anchor, Montague
the after one, and they were then to
jump overheard and swim to the life
boat, which was towing astern. Phil
lipps, Kelly and Deignan were to stop
the engines and knock away the
Kingston valves to flood the hold, and
Lieutenant Hobson and Charette were
to fire the torpedoes from the bridge
"And you expect to come out OF |
this alive?" asked companion Of the |
lieutenant.
Their Disregard of Death.
"Ah, that is another thing" said the |
lieutenant He was SO interested in |
the mechanical details Of the scheme |
that he scarcely stopped to talk o.
life and death. But in reply TO fire. |
Quent questions Hobson said
81 suppose the Estralla battery will |
fire down on us a bit, but the ships |
will throw their searchlights in the |
gunners' faces and they won't sec
much of us. Then If we are torpedoed !
we should even then be able to make |
the desired position in the channel.
1t won't be so easy to hit us, and |
think the men should be able to swim
to the dingy. I may jump before
am blown up. But l don't see that it
makes much difference what I do. |
have a fair chance of life either way.
If our dingy gets shot to pieces we
shall then try to swim for the beach
right under Moro Castle We shall |
keep together at all hazards. Then
we may be able to make our way along
and perhaps get back to the ship. We
shall fight the sentries or a squad
until the last and we shall only sur
render to overwhelming numbers, and
our surrender will only take place as
last and almost uncontemplated
emergency"
Words cannot paint the cool, matter
of fact heroism of the enlisted men,
so calmly confident Of SUCCESS in their
audacious undertaking, so implicitly
trustful in their young lieutenant who
was to lead them, so oblivious OF
everything except that they were going
In. They did not speak of coming out,
with the exception of Deignan, who
said nonchalantly: ooh, l guess wo
stand fair show of getting out, but
they can't stop us going in," this last
in a most matter of fact style, as
though going in was the only point
worth considering. So it was to them.
Ready For the Great Feat.
The Merrimac was made ready.
Six torpedoes were strung along her
port side, with wire connections to
the bridge. Her anchors were lashed
at the bow and stern. Her cargo of
coal was shifted and her cargo ports
were opened so that she would mora
readily fill when the time came to cut
her anchor lashings. open the seacocks
and torpedo her bulkheads.
The work was not complete until
after o'clock Thursday morning, but
with the sky palng in the east Lieu
tenant Hobson headed in on his des-
perate mission. AS the Merrimac
steamed forward Admiral Sampson
looked at his watch and at the streaks
in the east, and decided that the Merri-
mac could not reach the entrance be-
fore broad daylight. Consequently the
torpedo boat Porter was dispatched to
recall the daring officer. Lieutenant
Hobson sent back protest, with re-
sI,,n ,i,tn to n,,k