The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-20
WORK FOR THE MONITORS.
They VIII BE Used as Floating Forts
in Cuba and Porto Rico.

In CuDA ana FOrtO h1cO.
NEW YORK, Aug. ia special to the
Tribune from washington says: THE Navy
Department has decided to send all the
single turreted monitors to Cuta and Porto
Rico for duty as permanent guard ships in
the chief harbors of those islands. Prelim-
mary orders assigning officers and crews
of the regular navy to the twelve sea-
worthy vessels of this type are being made
out and several of these formidable vessels
will start for their new posts in a week or
two These monitors, which were built for
service in the civil war. several of them
bearing scars of the conflict, after thirty
years disuse. were restored to condition
soon after the Maine was blown up and
some equipped with entirely new water tube
boilers and having the benefit of extensive
improvements During the war with Spain
they have been manned by naval militiamen
and constituted the chief source of strength
of the auxiliary naval force guarding the
Atlantic coast. Orders were given several
days ago to place them out of commission
as soon as possible and return them to the
League island navy yard until another
emergency necessitated their use. In the
meantime, however, the complicated prob
lens involved in making law and order,
particularly in Cuba, led to consideration
of the availability of these vessels as guard
ships and the authorities quickly reached
the decision to utilize them for the purpose.
The vessels selected are the Ajax the
Canonicus, the Mahopac, the Manhattan,
the Wyandotte, the Catskill, the Jason, the
Lehigh the RIontauk, the Nahant, the Nan
tucket and the Passiac. They draw only
twelve feet of water and each of them car
ries two fifteen-inch smooth-bore guns in its
turret.
'It is intended that they shall only pro-
vide for the defense of Cuban harbors
against exterior assaults, but their maga-
zines are to be stored with large quantities
of grape and canister for the purpose of
maintaining order ashore. There is no con-
cealment of the design on the part of the
naval and military authorities to use, if
necessary, this grape and canister fire from
the huge guns of the monitors to command
wholesome respect for the United States au-
thority among the Cuban insurgents and
other obstreperous elements which will
have to be restrained when the Spaniards
evacuate the island, and the naval officers,
who will be especially selected for these
vessels on account of their discretion and
good judgment, will have full authority to
disperse any mobs whicn may come within
range. In each of the ports where monitors
are located there will be no necessity for
military garrison.
1T is proposed to locate these single-tur-
reted monitors at Matanzas, Cardenas,
Sagua la Grande Gibara, Nuevitas, Man
zanillo, Guantanamo, Trinidad, Cienfuegos
and Bahia Honda, in Cuba, and at Ponce,
in Porto Rico. 1t is also the intention of the
Navy Department to send the double-tur-
reted monitors Puritan, Terror, Amphitrite
and Miantonomoh to Havana, Santiago
and San Juan de Puerto Rico, perhaps two
of them being stationed at Havana. These
vessels, while among the most disagreeable
in the navy for active cruising service in
tropical waters, are considered more COM
Portable than any other type of vessels
which remain stationary and are altogether
peculiarly fitted to meet the present neces-
sity."