The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-14
MARINE INTELLIGENCE.
LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS OF
SHIFTS AND SHIPPING.

value of the Tug Boat in the Late
Wharf.-The Steamship Essex WAS
Aground Friday in Chesapeake
Bay While Bound for savannah.
Schooner John $. DeerinG to BE
FlOnted.
The value of the tug boat in The last war
Is recognized and appreciated by the navy
department. This little craft has made
glorious record in war service, having per
formed the work usually reserved for the
more expensive gunboat, says the New
York Commercial. An idea of the amount
of work done by these tiny war ships may
be gained from the performances of the
Wampatuc, which was formerly the
Standard Oil Company's tug Atlas. The
war career of which has just ended.
Equipped at New York with a rather for
midable battery, the tug started South on
April is. After doing blockade duty around
Havana she left with the auxiliary cruis-
er St. Louis, bound for Santiago, where
an attempt was made TO cut the cable rum
ming to Guantanamo. Moro Castle did not
open fire on the American vessels because
they had run in too close to the fort But
guns were taken from Spanish vessels and
used on the two Americans, with the re
suit that both were driven off. The next
day the Wampatuc and St. Louis succeed
ed in cutting the cable and carried 100 feet
of it out to sen. With the converted yachts
Hornet and Hist the Wampatuc proceeded
to ManZanillo on June 80. There were sew
en- gunboats and several transports in the
harbor, including the transport Purissima,
Conception, and a detachment of Pando's
army was on shore attempting to cut
across country TO Santiago in order TO re-
| inforce Gen. Linares. There was an en-
gagement between the American and Span
ish vessels. Eigllt-inch shells felt all around
the Wampatuc, and six times the vessel
! was hit The Americans withdrew, the
Wampatuc having the Hornet in tow. One
of the pipes in the latter had been struck
| by a Spanish shell, and the vessel was
pulled away while enveloped in escaping
steam. Eighteen days later the Wampatuc
went back to ManZanillo with the Hist
and the gunboats Osceola, Helena and VIII
| mington, and in another engagement with
| the Spanish vessels three of the latter were
| sunk and three driven ashore, where they
| blew up. A gunboat ran behind a schoon-
| er and was fired upon and sunk. Several
! transports were also disabled. These are
/ only a few of the exploits of one of
the tugs during the war, but they prove
the efficiency of the craft as fighter.
On Friday night the Merchants and
| Miners steamer Essex, Capt. Foster, out
ward bound for Savannah went ashore
about 200 yards to the 'northward of Seven
Foot Knoll light house, says the Baltimore
/ Sun. She was so badly ashore that the
steamer Decatur II. Miller went to her as
sistance Saturday night and the steamer
Itasca yesterday afternoon. The combined
efforts of the two steamers 1oated the Es-
sex at 4 O'Clock after much of the cargo
had been lightered into the Miller
The steamship D. II. Miller, Capt. Pc
| ters, is expected to arrive this morning
with the cargo taken from the steamship
Essex, which got aground in Chesapeake
bay Friday, while bound from Baltimore
for this port.
Work has been started on the schooner
John S. Deering, which was blown or
| Daufuskie Island during the recent storm
Mr.. James Foley, the contractor, took
force of men to the vessel yesterday ant
began to arrange to float the vessel
will be necessary to do some dredging t
make passage for the vessel to get into
deep water