The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-07-24
Light ON THE MAINE
Is Thrown By the State of
Cervera's Ships
NO INTERNAL EXPLOSION
Evidence of the Armor Plates
--MaryelOuS Gunnery,

OF Santiago de Cuba, July 12.-(Corres-
pondent of the Associated Press. Amy
doubt that may have existed that the
Maine was blown up by an outside expo
sion has been dissolved by the examina-
tion Of the destroyed Spanish ships said
a member Of rhe board of survey. that
examined the remnants Of Admiral Ger
vera's feet
"Ouf four ships examined. three had
been blown Up by their magazines" he
continued, "and Of these. one had every
magazine exploded and torpedoes in addi-
ton. yet on none Of them was there the
same effect as that produced by the ex-
plosion on the Maine. There was no up
heavel of the keel and little bulging of
the plates except in the immediate vicin-
ity of the explosion. The effect was near
~ altogether upward, in some cases the
protective deck being lifted; but, outside
of the springing of a few plates, the hulls
were intact"
The examination of the wrecks of the
Spanish ships, three of which were burn
cd and all their magazines exploded. was
made. first for the purpose Of ascertain
Ing the effect Of American gunnery and
secondly to find the effect Of internal ex-
plosion. Both subjects bore upon the
Maine incident. as noted above. and the
awful effect of well aimed shots was
demonstrated in the rapid sinking of the
fleet.
When Il is remembered that the Ami
rante Oquendo and the Infanta Maria Ter
esa We're both sunk within forty minutes
Of the time they left the entrance Of San
iago harbOr the work of American gun
ners may well be credited as remarkable.
The Almirante Oquendo was struck over
30 times and the Infanta Maria Teresa
81 times but by larger prOjectiles.
The record of damages to these ships
is one of great interest. The fight starJew
at a range of 5000 yards, or over three
miles. At 1900 yards or 300 yards. two
torpedo boats and two cruisers were ami
hilated. The closest lighting was done at
J, 100 and 1000 yards by the Brooklyn and
Vizcaya. with annihilating effects on the
Spanish ship. But two projectiles larger
than S-inch struck a vessel, both of these,
either y or Is inch. being put through the
Infanta Maria Teresa. The S-inch. 6-inch,
5-inch and 6-pounder projectiles did the
bulk of the work and were frightfully
destructive. Some idea of the effect can
be obtained from a brief summary of the
injuries to each ship as found by the ex-
aiming board. The board mad upon it
such capable men as Executive Officer
Rogers, of the Iowa; Executive Officer
Mason. of the Brooklyn. an expert on the
effect of shells on armor; Lieutenant
Huessler, of the Texas, who has made
some splendid improvements in gun firing
on that ship, and Naval Constructor Hob
son, of Merrimac fame. who has a reputa-
ton for knowledge of ship construction.
Briefly, the officers found:
Crstobal Colon. battleshp. first-class, |
with six inches of steel for protection not |
only on the water line. hut around the |
six-inch guns. was hit with large projec- |
tiles but six times. as it kept out of range |
nearly the whole time passing behind the |
other ships for protection, and finally |
making a run for it. The hits were made |
by the Brooklyn and Oregon. one S-inch |
shell went into the port side of the ward |
room and left on the starboard side with |
out exploding but cleaned out everything |
in the room. A fve-inch hit just above |
the armor belt and a six-inch struck her |
on the bow. None of the injuries were |
to put her out of action, nor |
as serious as those received by the Brook |
lyn. at one time her sole antagonist. The |
assertion that the Brooklyn was over |
hauling her and the Oregon's terrific IS
inch guns were shooting nearer and near |
er and that escape was impossible, seems |
to be the correct solution of her surren-
der.
The Vizcaya. of the same class as the |
Texas and Maine, carried two |
lL5-inch guns and ten 5.5-inch guns. with /
projections ten and twelve inches thick, |
double and treble that Of the Brooklyn. |
This ship was the special prey of the
Brooklyn and Oregon, although the Tex
as. after her destructive work on the Al
mirsnte Oquendo, and Teresa. added a lit |
tie at long range. The Nizcaya. exclusive |
Of one-pounders and rapid-fire hits, which |
shattered her deck. was hit with large |
projecliles. fourteen times and by six
eleven times. The eight-inch |
guns of the Brooklyn and Oregon and |
the six-inch guns on the Oregon and five
inch on the Brooklyn tore her structure
above the armor belt almost into threds.
while the six-pounders and one Founders
made il too war mfor men to stand at
the guns. The Texas got in a few sixinch
shots and The Iowa landed a couple of
four-inch shells. No thirteen or twelve
inch shells struck her.
The Infanta Maria Teresa. the flagship.
Of the same build as the Vizcaya. was
badly punished and was the only one
IF tee four ships nit by twelve or jhir-
teen inch projectiles. She has TWO Of thas
size clear through her and the position
lf one would tend 10 demonstrate that il
mas fired by the Texas. An eight-inch
she'll. undoubtedly from the Brooklyn. be
,ause she was the only ship in line with
the Maria Teress's mead as she turned
west. entered just forward Of The beam
,n the port side and. exploding inside
cleaned out the deck, with four gun
crews. This is the shot that Cervera
said came from the Brooklyn and set
IRE 10 the ship. The TereSa's difficulty
and one that compelled her hurried sur
render was that al her fire mains were
~, and she was unable TO extinguish the
fires.
The Almirante OQuendo. armored cruiser
same class as the ViEcaya ana Teresa.
went through the most terrible ordeal of
any Of the ships, except the torpedo boats
Her upper works were one raEsed mass
# cut up steel and her decks were cover
ID with dead and dying. She was h,
IN the por, side four times by eight
nch shells. three times by four-inch
shells. probably from the Iowa. two times
by siN-inch and forty-two times by SIX
The innumerabie number OF 7
tina; struck her shows thar
he met the fire of the entire aee,. as