Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-11-19

same moment that her machinery
stopped.
The second and third commanders
agreed with me that il was impossible
to longer prolong the fight. We pro-
posed to haul down the flag, but it
was impossible on account of the great
Roadway made by the flames At this
time the fire had made such Roadway
that it became necessary to abandon
the ship, and those who were able to
do so threw themselves in the water
where they were saved by two Ameri-
can boats, which had approached. F"
Admiral Cervera gives the names
of wounded and dead officers on the
Teresa. A Spanish boat was lowered
in the water, but filled on account of
the injuries it had sustained under the
terrific fire of the American ships
Another steam launch met the same
fate. The admiral then jumped into
the water, followed by his son and
two sergeants.
II was aided in swimming, said
the admiral, "by sailor named An
dreas Sequeros and my son and arriv-
ed there naked. The American Off
GERS commanding the boats invited
me to go the Gloucester. accepted
the invitation, going with my flag
captain, who was wounded, with my
adjutant, and tie second commander
OF the Teresa, who was the last to
leave the ship.
"The Oquendo stranded half mile
to the west Of the Teresa, and lost
sight of the Vizcaya and the Colon,
which were being pursued by the
American ships.
LAS related by the master OF the
Oqueudo, the story of the progress
made by this unfortunate ship is as
follows:
The unequal combat became more
unequal when projectile OF the enc
my entered the forward turret and ex-
ploded, killing all of the personnel ex
cept one gunner, who was badly
wounded. Ofthe battery of the IA
centimeter guns two only remained
in action, fighting with unconquera-
BILE energy. The rear turret was soon
without commander, the officer in
charge having been killed in opening
the door to escape asphyxiation.
1.-TWO fires started on the Oquendo,
one just forward, which was promptly
gotten under control, and the second
on the after deck, which could not be
suppressed because of the failure of
the engines to operate. From the
time the battle opened the ammuni-
ton hoists failed to work.
When it was seen by Captain La
zaga that the fires could not be con-
trolled and that the entire battery OF
the ship was out of commission, he
determined to run ashore, ordering
before such action the discharge of all
torpedos, in order to prevent the enc
my S vessels from approaching.
CATER consulting with all officers
present and as a last resort, he order
ed that the flag be hauled down. On
account OF the continuous explosions
on board it was found impossible to
save anything on board ship. :"
Admiral Cervera then resumes his
narrative as follows:
ION board the Gloucester were 200
Spanish sailors, who were solicitously
attended by the Americans and pro-
vided with every necessity. These
attentions were particularly gratifying
because of the fact that all the men
were naked.
1.-The insurgents had captured about
200 men, and with them five or six
who were wounded. The insurgents
rendered their servic. 5, which | thank
fully declined. We have surrendered
to the Americans, l told them. If
you have surgeons kindly permit
them to attend to the wounded, sew
eral of whom are in very bad condi-
ton.