The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-06-13
R|DDLED THE FORTS
Description of Bombardment at San
tiag0 Last Monday.
ALL BATTERIES SIENCED
SPANIARDS DESERTED THEIR
GUNS AND RAN AWAY.
Big Guns of. the Battleships Did
Fearful Execution-Two Squad
rons Presented Grand Sight As
They Formed In Battle Line
Smoke Interfered With Firing.

Smoke Interfered With Firing.
Copyright, 1898, by the Associated Press.)
Off Santiago de Cuba, June 6 (via
Kingston, Jamaica, June I. IL a. NJ
Delayed in misunderstanding Spanish
water batteries guarding Santiago de
Cuba were badly wrecked today by the
American fleet in a bombardment last
ing from shortly after o'clock until some
time after 10 o'clock this morning. Orders
for the attack were issued on Sunday
night. All the men were warned to re-
tire early and preparations were made for
breakfast at $50 a. m.
That the fire from the Spanish forts
would be severe was generally conceded.
but snatches of song and the strumming
of guitars and mandolinS from the ships
gave anything but an impression of dead
ly warfare.
Early on the morrow the officers gather
ed on the quarter decks and discussed the
situation and the possible effect OF the
shots. 1t was agreed that the earthworkS
would be hard to destroy and that a
great deal of ammunition would be
wasted, especially as the forts were sit
uated on high ground. To the contrary,
the fact that the ships We're not TO move
and were to stand in at 5000 yards made
them a good target and it was judged
that the drop of shots from the forts
would be disastrous in case of hits.
The distance fought at made the sec
ondary batteries of rapid-fre guns use
less, and they were silenced. The line
of battle planned was the same as in the
movement of Saturday afternoon. The
Oregon and Iowa moved in on a straight
line from the south. The Brooklyn,
Marblehead and Vixen moved in a line
on slight angle. The Vixen close in
shore and the Brooklyn next to the
Texas. in the most dangerous position on
the line, because both she and the Texas
east. On the other angle to the west were
the New York. New Orleans and Yankee.
These faced the new earthworks battery
opposite MORO castle. while the Brooklyn,
Marblehead and Vixen faced the EStrella
battery, MORO castle, the Catalina bat
terry and two earthwork batteries on the
western bank and couple of new shore
batteries.
The morning opened with heavy show
ers and no breeze. Not a favorable out
look, because the dense smoke from the
big guns would hang over the ship like
pail, and disarrange the aim of the
gunners, while the shore batteries, having
smokelesS powder would be able to fire
at the patches of smoke with little incon-
venience. Toward $50 o'clock the skies
lightened and a good breeze came along.
AN INTERESTING SIGHT.
At 6:32 the order to move in to land
was given and as the columns formed a
beautiful and inspiring sight was wit
messed. Forming in two columns, at
distance of six miles. the ships moved
toward the entrance of the harbor, me
Brooklyn leading one column. and the
New York the other. Slowly they moved
up until within four miles of the forts
west. followed by the Marblehead Texas
and Massachusetts, and the New York
to the east followed by the New Orleans,
Yankee. Iowa and Oregon
Ia oil fI1rr 1ad inf
new formation, they moved in battle line
to within 5000 yards of the batteries in
the positions originally detailed. The
Vixen and the Suanee went in on the left
s4ank to look out for rif1emen or rife
pits and the Dolphin and the torpedo boat
Porter did similar duty on the right flank.
cisely IA O'Clock a Pinch gun on the
Iowa shattered the silence, and from one
end of the line to the other there was an
instant response to the firing.
Through clouds of smoke the Pinch
shells of the Iowa could be seen striking
on the base of the Estrella battery.
Some of the batteries on the hills opened
at once but their good aim of last week
seemed destroyed by the shower of shells
from the fleet for the Spanish return
shots flew far from the mark.
GOOD SHOOTING.
The great difficulty seemed, so far as
the American ships were concerned, to
be the dense clouds of smoke which OBJ
=
aim. but even with that great difficulty.
the shooting was splendid. The 13-inch
shells from the Massachusetts and Ore
gon struck into the hills near the bat
teries and threw up mountains of earth |
even when they fell a trifie short. The
moral effect of the terrible power must
have been great, for battery after bat
terry was deserted by the Spaniards The
Texas, with two Pinch guns and the
Iowa. with her four big guns, raked the
entire hillside, while the Brooklyn and
New York poured in heavy fire from de-
structlve eight and nve-inch guns. The
Brooklyn headed in further with her I
of fighters when the smoke be- /
came too dense, and then. obtaining a
rain of eight-inch and five-inch shells /
IN the meantime, the shells from a little /
Spanish fort on the water front two
niles off MORO castle, opened on the /
Commander Delahanty, and the Vixen in I
of Lieutenant Sharp, and they (
moved in. and with a hot fire from their |
small guns soon silenced them.
EARTHWORKS SILENCED.
The great earthworks on the hill near
he lying squadron,s end of the line then |
legan putting shells in so close 10 the |
Brooklyn and Massachusetts that it was
determined to silence them if possible
t was a difficult job. because the earth
works were $50 feet above the waterline,
md it required great elevation of the
runs AT S:22. after three-quarters of an
lour of firing, Commodore Schley or
Tered Cease firing" and the ships on
he west moved further in. until they
lad a good 1850 range. Eight minutes
ater the command to open fire was given
md the guns began TO crash away.
Following the whistle of the eight inch !
hells from the Brooklyns after turret /
n charge of Lieutenant Russ, there was
burst of fire from a blockhouSe near
his battery and a great cheer from the
men, Ten seconds later the Massachu-
etts landed two ten-inch shells almost
n the same spot and signalled that the
artery was silenced. Big guns could still !
e seen on the hill, but there were no !
around them. In the meantime
hells from few batteries of the enemy
which were keeping up a desultory firing,
he ships. One burst over the Brooklyn
nd two others went dangerously close to
er. But only a few skylights were in
nred.
In the meantime. the four big battle
hips were pounding away at the Estrella
artery and the inside harbor defenseS,
nd the frightful explosion of the great
hells could be seen causing terrible
avoc.
Down at the eastern end of the line the
lew York and New Orleans put the Cave
hen devoted the fire of their guns to the
arteries on the hill, there being two new
laSked batteries west of MORO that were
cry nasty in their fire. The guns of the
lew Orleans did deadly work and the fire
rom the Spaniards grew more and more
tful. The EStrella and Cataline batteries
A AsnTnRnAg aAENgsl