The times., 1898-07-27

which means that, from the iiihs Nne
first one became visible in the upper
reach OF the channel until the last one
was out of the harbor. an interval
or only about twelve minutes elapsed.
Following the Oquendo, az distance OF
a about l. 200 yards. came the torpedo boat
destroyer Pluton and after her the Fur
or The armOred cruisers, as rapidly as
they could bring their guns 10 bear
opened a vigorous fire upon the biockad-
ing vessels. and emerged from the chan
mel shrouded in the smoke from their
guns.
:. The men OF our ships in front of the
port were at Sunday quarters for In
specttOn The signal was made simul-
1aneousiy from several vessels enemy
ships escaping" and general quarters
was sounded. The men cheered as they
Eprang TO their guns, and fire was open
ed probably within eight minutes by
the vessels whose guns commanded the
entrance. The New York turned about
and steamed for the escaping fleet, fly
ing the signal close in towards harbor
entrance and attack vessels and gradu-
ally increasing speed. until toward the
end Of the chase she was making SIX
teen and One-half knots. and was rapid
IL closing on the Cristobal Colon. Sne
was not. al any time, within the range
OF the heavy Spanish ships. and her only
IldfA IN AlE AAA4flb hsA5 " ASN14fN~ N-A~ 49,
divided fire from the forts in passing
the harbor entrance, and TO fire a few
shots at one OF the destroyers. thought
at the moment to be attempting TO es-
cape from the Gloucester.
6 The Spanish vessels, upon clearing
the harbor. turned TO the westward IN
column. increasing their speed TO the full
power OF their engines. The heaNy DOCK
aiding vessels. which had closed In to-
nj the instant OF the
enemy's appearance. and at their best
speed. delivered a rapid fire. wei sus-
tanned and destructive. which speedily
oyerwhelmed and silenced the Spanish
fire. The initial speed Of the Spaniards
carried them rapidly past the biockadlns
vessels and the battle developed into
2 chase in which the Brooklyn and Texas
had ut the start the advantage of posi-
ton. The Brooklyn maintained this lead
The oregon Steaming with amazing speed
from the commencement OF the acton,
took first place. The Iowa and the IN
diana, having done good work. and moi
having the speed Of the other ships, were
directed by me. in succession. at aopht
the time the NiZcaya was beached. 10
drop our OF the chase and resume block
aiding stations These vessels rescued
man. prisoners. The vixen. finding that
the rush Of the Spanish ships would put
her between two fires. ran outside OF our
own column and remained there during
the battle and chase
: The sllllful handling and gallant
fighting Of the Gloucester excited the ad-
rntration Of everyone who witnessed II.
and merits the commendation Cf the Ma
w Department. She is a fast and entire
Nv unnrotected auxiliary vessel-the yacht
Corsair-and has good battery Of light
rapid fire guns She was lying about two
I'll Ia f.ar-f0T entrance the
southwark and eastward. and immediate
Is steamed in. opening fire upon the large
ships Anticipating the appearance OF
the Pluton and Furor the Gloucester was
slowed thereby gaining more rapidly a
high pressure OF steam, and when the
destrcyers came out she steamed for
them at fun speed. and was able TO close
TO short range. where her fire was accu-
rate deadly and Of great volume. Dur
ing this fight She Gloucester was under
the a,e Of the Socapa Battery Within
twenty minutes from the time they
emerged from Santiago Harbor. the ca
reers of the FUTor and Plut0n were end
ed. and twO-thirds Of their people killed.
The Furor was braChed and sunk in the
surf: tho PIuton sank in deep water few
minutes iater. The deStroyers probably
suffered much injury from the fire Of
the secondary batteries Of the battleships
Iowa Indiana and she Texas, yet l think
a very considerable factor in their speedy
destruction was the fire, at close range
Of the GI5ucester's battery. After rescU!ng
rh. survivors OF the destroyers, the
Gloucester did excellent service IN landing
and securing the crew OF The Infanta Ma
ria Teresa.
s. The method Of escape attempted by
the Spanidrds-aIl steering in the same di-
reciion. and in formation. removed all
tactical doubts or difficulties. and mace
plain the duty OF every United States YES
sci TO close in Immediately, engage and
pursue. This was promptly and effective
ly done As already stated. the first rush
Of the Spanish squadron carried it past
a number Of the blockading ships which
could not Immediately work up 10 their
best speed: hut they suffered heavily in
rassina. and the InfanJa Maria Teresa
and The CQuerdo were probably set on
fire bv shells fred during the first fifteen
minutes Of the engagement. 1t was after
wards learned that the lnfanta Maria Te-
resa's fireman. had been cut by one OF
our first shots, and that she was unable
TO eNtinguish fire. With large volumes OF
smoke rising from their lower decks aft
these vessels gave up both fight and
fight. and ran in on the beach-the In
fanra Maria Teresa at about 1913 a m
al Nina Nina. six and a half miles from
Santiago Harbor entrance, and the Almi-
rarta Oouendo at about 1879 a. m. al
Juan Couzales seven miles from the port
9 The Nizcaya was still under the fire
OF the leading vessels; the Cristobal Co.
lon had drawn ahead, leading the chase
and soon passed beyond the range Of the
guns Of the leading American ships. The
Nizcaya was soon set on fire, and, at 1l:1;
she turned inshOre and was beached al
Aserraderos. fifteen miles from Santiago
burning fercely. and with her reserves OF
ammunition on deck already be-
ginning 10 explode. When about ten miles
west Of Santiago the Indiana had been
signaled TO 20 back TO the harbor en-
trance and at Aserraderos the Iowa was
slgnaled to resume blOckading sta
ton" The Iowa, assisted by the Erics-
son and the Hist, took off the crew of the
Vizcaya while the Harvard and the
Gloucester rescued those Of the Infanta
Maria Teresa and the Almirante Oquan-
do. This rescue Of prisoners, including 5he
wounded from the burning Spanish ves-
sells. was the occasion of some of the
most daring and gallant conduct of the
day. The ships were burning fore and
aft. their guns and reserve ammunition
were exploding. and IL vas not known al
what moment the fire would reach the
main magazines. In addition TO this 2
heavy surf was running just inside OF the
Spanish ships. But no risk deferred oul
officers and men until their work OF hu-
manity was complete
10 There remained now Of the Spanish
ships only the Cristobal Colon. but she
was their best and fastest vessel. Forced
by the situation TO hug the Cuban coast
her only chance of escape was by supe-
rior and sustained speed. When the Viz
caya went ashore the Colon was about
six miles ahead of the Brooklyn and the
Oregon. but her squirt was finished and