Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-07-27

highly d the skill and The care
with which her admiraMble enc
cheney has been maintained during
service unprecedented in the his
tory Of vessels OF her class. The
"Brooklyn'S'' westerly bfockading
positions gave her an advantage In
the chase which she maintained to
the end, and she employed her
fine battery with telling effect.
The Texas and the New York
were gaining on the chase during
the last hour, and had any acct
dent befallen the Brooklyn or the
Oregon, would have speedily over
hauled the Cristobal Colon.
From the moment the Spanish
vessel exhausted her first burst Of
speed the result WAS never in
doubt. She fell. in fact, far below
what might have reasonably been
expected of her.
14.-Several of the ships were
struck, the Brooklyn more often
than the others, but very slight
material injury was done, the
greatest being aboard the Iowa.
Our loss was one man killed and
one wounded, both on the Brook
Ign. 1t Is difficult to explain this
immunity of loss of life or injury
to ships In a combat with modern
vessels of the best type, but Span
ish gunnery is poor at the best,
and the superior weight and accu-
racy of our fire speedily drove their
men from their guns and silenced
their fires. The fire from the rapid
fire batteries of the battleships APP
pears to have been remarkably de
structive. An examination Of the
stranded vessels shows that the
Almmirante Oquendo especially
had suffered terribly from this fire.
Her sides are everywhere pierced
and her decks were strewn with
the charred remains of those who
had fallen.
15.-The reports of Commodore
w. S. Schley AID of the command
ing officers, are enclosed.
Very respectfully,
w. T. SAMPSON,
Rear Admiral U. S. N, Command
er-in-Chief U. S. Naval Force,
North Atlantic Station.
To the Secretary of the Navy,
Navy Department, Washington,
d. c.:
Commodore Schley's report down
to section describes in practic-
ally the way Admiral Sampson
does the attempt OF the Spanish
squadron to escape, and the imme-
q
beginning at 1,1OO yards and vary
ing to 5000 yards until the VIZ
caya was destroyed. He then
says:
The Oregon having proved vast
ly faster than the other battle
ships, she and the Brooklyn, to-
gether with the Texas and another
vessel which proved to be your
flagship, continued westward In
pursuit of the Colon, which had
run close in shore, evidently seek
ing some good spot to beach II
she should fail to elude her pur-
suers. 49,,
5-The pursuit continued with
increasing speed in the Brooklyn,
Oregon and other ships, and soon
the Brooklyn and the Oregon were
within long range Of the Colon,
when the Oregon opened fire with
her 13-inch guns, landing a she'll
close to the Colon. A moment af-
forwards the Brooklyn opened fire
with her 8-inch guns, landing
she'll Just ahead Of her. Several
other shells we're fred at the Colon,
now in range of the Brooklyn and
Oregon. Her commander, seeing
all chance of escape cut off and
destruction awaiting his ship, fred
a Lee gun and struck her flag at
lis D. m. and ran ashore at a
point some fifty miles west Of San
tiago harbor. Your flagship was
coming up rapidly at the time, as
was also the Texas and Vixen. A
little later, after your arrival, the
Cristobal Colon, which had struck
to the Brooklyn and the Oregon,
was turned to you as one of the
trophies of this great victory of the
squadron under your command.
6--I would mention for your con-
sideration that the Brooklyn oc-
cupied the most westward block
aiding position with the Vixen and
being more directly in the route
taken by the Spanish squadron
exposed for some minutes, possi-
bly, ten, to the gun fire Of three
Spanish ships and the west battery
at a sharp range of 1900 yards
from the ships and about 5000
yards from the batteries. but the
vessels of the entire squadron,
closing in rapidly, soon diverted
this fire and did magnificent work
at close range. l have never be-
fore witnessed such deadly and
fatally accurate shooting as was
done by the ships Of your COM
mand as they closed in on the
Spanish squadron, and | deem it
a high privilege to commend to
you for such action as you may
deem proper, the gallantry and
dashing courage the prompt de-
cisicn and the skillful handling
of their respective vessels Of Cap
tain Phillip, Captain Evans, Cap
tain Clark and especially of my
chief of staff, Captain Cook, who
was directly under my personal
observation, and whose GOODNESS,
promptnesg and courage were Of
the highest order. The dense smoke
of the combat shut out from my
view the Indiana and the Glouces-
ter, but as these vessels were
closer to your flagship no doubt
their part In the conflict was I'M
dor ynIlr Immediate observation
Lieut.. Sharp, commanding
the Vixen, acted with conspicuous
courage, although unable to en-