The Portland daily press., 1898-10-24
BE Done.

Washington, October 23.-The navy de-
partment has made public that portion OF
Admiral Sampson S report covering the
conduct Of the fleet under his command
in its operations in the West Indies for
about two months prior to the destruc-
ton of Admiral Cervera's ships on July
g. 1t is made up largely of official des-
patches and the movements OF the feet,
with explanations and comment by the
Admiral. The report is dated August 3,
on the flagship New York, and begins
t-itth statement Of the determination
reached by the navy department. to send
a squadron to the Windward Passage for
the purpose of ob-ervation because OF in
formation received of the sailing on April
30 of Admiral Cervera's squadron from
the Caps Verde islands On the voyage
eastward from the naval base at Key West,
which began Ma, 4. Admiral Sampson
reports there was experienced endless
trouble and delay because Of the ine1fl-
cheney of the two monitors, accompanying
the ships and which had to be taken In
tow. Their coal supply was so small
must either frequently coal or be towed.
The Admiral says:
ssHad the sea been rough or had the
enemy appeared at this junoture, the
squadron would have been in much bet
ter position for an engagement had the
monitors been elsewhere.
subsequently when engaging the bat
teries Of San Juan, 1T was evident that
their shooting was very bad. Owing to
the quick rolling Of these vessels even In
a moderate sea, they were unable to fire
with any degree of accuracy"
Among the kilograms received by the
Admiral from the department at Wash
ington, when off Cape Haytien was the
followin G:
Washington, D. G., May 9.
Do not risk or cripple your vessels
against Notifications as to prevent from
soon afterward successfully lighting
Spanish fleet composed of Pelayo, Carlos
", Vizcaya. Maria Teresa, Cristobal
Colon, four deep sea torpedo boats, if they
should appear on this SIDE.
(Signed) Long.
On May s, there was consultation on
board the flagship and the Admiral says
that he decided to stand on to the east
ward as far as San Juan, Porto Rico.
on the chance of finding the Spanish
squadron in that port, where If they were
not successfulsin destroying it, it could at
least be blockaded and held. The squad
ron arrived off San Juan on the morning
of the 18th and the bombardmeut of the
place ensued. Regarding his action at this
place, the Admiral says:
"It was clear to my mind that the
squadron would not have any great diff
Guilty in forcing the surrender of the
place, but the fact that we should be held
several days in completing arrangements
for holding it; that part of our force
would have to be left to await the arrival
OF troops to garrison; that the movements
OF the Spanish squadron, our main objec-
tive. were still unknown; that the flying
squadron was still north and not in a
position to render any aid; that Havana,
Cervera's natural objective, was thus
open to entry by such force as his,
while we were thousand miles distant,
made our immediate movement toward
Havana imperative. I thus reluctantly
gave up the project against San Juan and
stood westward for Havana
Several kilograms are here presented,
based on reports that Cervera's squad
ron had returned to Cadiz and they had
in view to return and capture san Juan.
the leisure to do SO and occupy the place
being assured in the event of Admiral
Csryera's failure to cross the Atlantic.
Shortly after news was received that tho