New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-24
REMARKABLE GUNNERG.
GIVING OF CERVER4'S SHIPS.
roRrEDOBOATS AND CRUISERS ANNlil'
LATED At TWENTY-FIVE Hun
DRIED YARDS

srryev that examined the remnants Of Admiral
Cerveras feet
oof .ovr ships examined three had been blown
-. ,ha,r magazines." he continued. and Of
,t.so ore had every magazine exploded ana
,.-,edocs in addition. vet on none Of them was
.,sre the same effect as that produced by the
.vnlosion on the Meipe. There was no upheaVal
=, ,bo keel. and little bulging Of the plates ex-
,.,, in the immediate vicinity Of the explosion
rbe effect was nearly altogether upward, in
anne cases the protective deck being lifted but.
outside Of III" springing OF a few plates. the
huNs were intact.
The examination Of the wrecks of the Spanish
sb'ns three OF which were burned and all
,beir MAGAZINES exploded was made, first for
The purpose OF asccrtaining the effect Of Ameri-
oor eunnerv. and secondly. TO find the effect
=, internal explosion. Both subjects satisfac-
,oriIv tested the Maine incident. as noted above.
o,a tho awful effect of wcll-amed shots. as
demonstrated in the rapid sinking Of the flee;
when II is remembered that the OquendO and
.ba Infanta Maria Teresa were both sunk within
,or,v minutes of the time they left the entrance
tho work Of the American gunners may we'll
70 considered remarkable. II was also revealed
that the Oouendo was struck over hftY-nVe
fines and the lnfanta Maria Teresa thirty
ssver ,inlcs, but by larger proJcCll4ts.
TERRIFIC DAMAGE DONE.
Tho record Of the damage 10 these ships Is a
world record The fight started at range OF
six thousand Yards. while az two thousand or
twenty-five hundred yards two torpedo boats
snd two cruisers were annihilated. The closest
Agh,ing was done at eleven hundred and one
thousand yards. by the Brooklyn and the VIZ
cava. with annihiatirg effect on the spanish
shin But two proiecties larger than S-inch
struck a vessel. both OF these. either II or /"
inch being put through the lnfanta Maria
Teresa The S-inch. G-nch. J-inch and 6-pound-
ers did the bulk OF the work and were frightful-
~ destructive. Some idea of the effect can be
obtained from brief summary Of the injuries
20 each ship as found by the examining Board.
The Board had upon ii such capable men as
Executive officer Rogers. Of the Iowa; Executive
Officer Mason. Of the Brooklyn. an expert on
the effect Of shells on amor: Lieutenant Hues-
sler OF the Texas. who has made some spIendd
improvements in gun-fring On that ship and
Naval Constructor Hobson, Of Merrimac fame
who has a reputation for know ledge OF ship-con-
struc,ion. Briefly. these officers found:
Cr;stobal Colon. battle-ship. frst-class. with
six inches Of steel for protection, not only on
IL water-l.ne but around the G-inch guns
times. as 1t kept out Of range nearly the whole
time. passing behind the other ships for pro,ec-
ton. and finally making run for It. The lists
were made by the Brooklyn ana the oregon.
One S-inch she'll went into the port side of the
vardroom. and left on the starboard side with
out exploding but cleaned OUT everything in
the room a J-lnch hit jus, above the armor-
belt and G-inch struck her on the bow. None
Of the Injuries were sufficient 20 put her out Of
action. and were not as serious as those received
by the Brooklyn. a one time her sole antago-
MIST. The assertion that the Brooklyn was
overhaung her and that the Oregon's terrific
13-inch guns were shooting nearer and nearer.
and that escape was impossible. seems TO be
the correct solution Of her surrender.
HOW THE VIzCAYA WAS CONQUERED.
The Vizcaya armored cruiser Of the same
class as tha battle-shii Texas and Maine.
Two II 5-inch AMI ten J.j-inch guns. with pro-
tect!ons ~ and T. inches thick. double and
treble tina; Of the Brooklyn. This ship was the
special prey Of the Brooklyn and the oregon,
although the Texas. after her destructive work
on the Oquendo and the Teresa. aided a little
al long range. Tn Nizcaya. exclusive If J.
Founders and rapid-fre hits. which swept her
deck was hit with large projectiles fourteen
times and by G-pOundcrs eleven times Inc :
Inc guns or the BROOKLYN ana tit OlfS'iI' anu
tn G-inch guns on the oregon ana the "-lhch
guns On the Brooklyn tore her structure apoN"
the armOr b~lt almost into shr"ds. Whie the
g. FOUNDERS and l-l,undcIs made II too warm
for men 10 stand at the guns. The Texas got
In fow G-inch shots and the Iowa landed
coupl. Of finch shells. 30 Is or T. inch shells
struck her
TIL Infanta Maria Teresa the flagship. of the
same build as me NizcaYa, was badly punished
and was the only one % the four ships hit by
j. or Is inch proiectiles She has two Of that
ola rerh hfr nd no ia al
would tend 20 demonstrate that i was fired by
The Tcxas. The Indiana, the Oregon or the
Iowa sharing the other one. An S-inch shell
from the Brooklyn. because she
was the only snip in line with The Maria
Ter4sas head as she turned west. entered just
forward Of the beam on toe port side, and. ex-
I0ding inside. cleaned out the deck with -four
gun crews. This is the shot that Ccrrera said
came from the Brooklyn and set fire 10 the ship.
TIE Teresa's great difficulty and one that com
PEELED her hurried surrender. that all her
fire mains were cut. and she was una bic 10 OK
tinguish the fires that were driving her men
from -" guns.
THE ALMIRANTE OQUENDOS PUNISHMENT
The Almirante Oqucndo. armore1 cruiser,
same cla-s as the Vizcaya ard the Teresa. went
through the most terrible baptism Of fire. Of any
Of the ships, except the torpedo-bcats. Her up
per works were one ragged mass Of cut-up steel.
and her decks were covered with dead and
dying. She hit on the port side four times
by sinch shells. three times by 4-inch shells,
probably from the Iowa. twice by G-inch shells
and fcrtv-two times by G-pOunders. The In
Vulnerable number OF 1-pOunders that struck
her show that she met the fire Of the entire fleet
as she turned last out OF the torpedO-boats that
followed hcr. and the secondary shots
Intended for them hit her. When she turned
70 the shore she was in a dilapidated condition.
One Of the findings Of the Board Of Survey
was that an S-inch shell had struck the forWari
tufret just where the gun-opening was. ana
Tat every man in the turret was killed. the
officer standing In the firing hood being still in
mat position Another fact learned was that
the tOrlrdoes in some Of the ships were already
loaded I. the tubes and prepared to fire.