The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-24
THAT FAMOUS LOOP.
Why schIey Performed the Turn
During the Battle.
From The Phnadelphla LEDGER.

whether he said anything Ia connection
with the now historical loop movement.
is a mater Of Ettle common compared with
the value and purpose OF the movement
itsen. schley's opponents in the navy de-
partment encourage the allegation charged
from time TO time in some newspapers that
Schley made the movenien TO avoid the
enemy, that IL was inspired by fear. and
executed regardless of the consequences
that might have resulted TO the Texas. In
this connection the alleged remark Of
Schley when his attention is said 10 have
been directed 10 the relative position Of
the Brooklyn and Texas, that The Texas
could take care of herself" simply en-
braces what naval officers regard as a
settled fact in naval warfare, namely. that
every vessel Of a fleet acting in concert
must Took out for herself The allegation
that Schley made the movement in contro-
versy from feeling of fear 20 meet the
enemy is too absurd 10 be given serious
consideration, and is contI addicted by every
preceding and subsequent movement of the
Brooklyn during the contest. The world
knows what followed the celebrated turn
OF the Brooklyn. In his official report Of
the battle made 10 the Senate committee
on naval AFFAIRS, Schley explained that the
course on which the Brooklyn was being
held at The time would, IL continued, have
brought her into position where she
would have blanketed the fire OF the east
ern vessels of our force. Instant decision
was, therefore, necessary to avoid INFER
ferlng In any way" sad Admiral Schley,
or cutting OFF any of the fire Of our ves-
sells, as would have occurred if she had
turned towards the Spanish feet, now aD-
preaching the Brooklyn" AS will be seen
by the statements given below of CaDts.
Eulate and Conchos, of the Spanish feet,
a oaI of no e
ships towards the Brooklyn, noted by
Sehley in his statement before the Senate
committee was to ram that vessel.
Value and Wisdom of the Loop.
As before stated, the world knows what
followed the execution Of the ''loop."
What would have been the result had this
movement not been performed, or if 1t had
been made on the starboard helm, as
Hodgson suggested? Schley says in his tes-
umony before the Senate committee that
this turn of the Brooklyn was the crucial
and deciding feature of the combat. "If
the advantage gained by the Brcoklyn's
turn outward to permit the concentrated
fire of our squadron upon the enemy with
out interruption had been surrender TO q
turn made inward" said Schley chat
would have interfered with this fire, so
imperAtiveiy necessary a this vital mo-
ment, and the results might have been
quite different" Admiral Schley, in the
same testimony, expressed the belief. bas-
ed on observation from an advantageous
point built around the coming tower and
commanding an unobstructed view of both
fleets, that the results of the battle We're
aided largely by this maneurver Of the
Brooklyn at that decisive moment"
This belief is sustained by the testimony
Of Capts. Eulate and Conchos. of the Wis
eaya and Maria Teresa respectively. In
a conversation Immediately following the
battle, and which Is quoted in several of
the histories Of the war recently published,
Capt. Euate said: "The entire squadron
was ordered TO devote the fire of their guns
to the cruiser Brooklyn because it was
believed she was the only ship in the
American squadron that could overtake
us. When We got GU. of the harbor my
ship was second in the1ine, and I saw i'm
mediately that the flagship Maria Teresa
was getting aNtefrible baptism of fire. Ii
was frightful. The Texas and the Brook
Ign were Just Kidding her, and In fifteen
minutes l saw she was on fire. The
Brooklyn was half mile closer to Us
than any other ship, and l determined 10
ram her, so that the Colon and OquendO
would get away, and l started for her.
She was a good mark with her big broad
side. and as l started | thought surely I
would get her. But she had evidently
seen us, and very quickly she turned about
and making a short circle, came at our
port side, so / thought she would ram us.
| moved in toward the shore, so that
could avoid her, and then l saw the Oquen-
do had gone ashore also, her steam pipes
having evidently been severed by a shell.
The maneuver of the Brooklyn was beau
tiful We opened a rapid fire at her with
all our big guns, but she returned il with
terrible effect. The Oregon also hit us
several times, but the Broklyn's broadside
crushed into our superstructure, simply
terroriZing the men. She simply drove US
to the shore at one time lighting us at
l 100 yard. The Brooklyn had pre-
vented me from getting away, for l could
have beaten the Oregon out, as I had
two mile lead of her My orders were to
try and sink the Brooklyn, and l did my
best to carry them out l did not think
her battery could be so terrible as it
was"
Intended~to Ram the BROOKLYN.
This statement of Capt. Eulate, sustains
the opinion of Admiral Sehley, expressed
| before the Senate committee, as to the
value and wisdom of his movement al
what is established to have been criti-
cal moment in the battle. Ii finds further
confederation from another officer of the
Spanish fleet. When Cervera and his of
fcers were prisoners of war at Annapolis,
Capt. Conchos of the Maria Teresa ia con-
versation with a friend, who visited him,
Ill aQtdhlHS VI tklC bdtLAe ana It's teITlDlH
results to the Spanish squadron, confirms
what was said by Capt Eulate in regard
to Cervera's orders TO concentrate their
attention on the Brooklyn. There was
only one chance" said Capt. Conchos; "a
slight possibility thai one, or perhaps two.
OF the vessels might escape. The arrange
ment of the Yankee fleet was favorable
The lookouts told us that the New York
hda gone to the east and the BROOKLYN
was the only ship in sight that could out
sail the slowest of our vessels 1t was
the intention to ram the Brooklyn imme-
dately and sink or disab her. even
though one of our vessels went down with
her. Then il was hoped the others could
outrun the battleshps Our plan failed
because we could not get near enough Ia
the Brooklyn. She did not close in on rs
like the Texas and Oregon, but stood off
at long range, and when the Maria Te
resa started for her She made a wide
sweep and ran away. Cervera asked
Schiey why he did not come nearer. but
got no satisfaction"
II testimony be needed to establish the
value and wisdom of Schley's movement
these statements of Capts Eulate and
Conchos, made soon after the destructior