Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-15
RALEIGH FIRST TO FIRE AT CA
u. NITE.

i 1t seems strangely appropriate that he
ship that fired the first shot in the battle
of Manila should be the first one of Adj
miral Dewey's victorious fleet to return
to the United States. The Raleigh, Cap
tain Joseph B. Coghlan, not only opened
the battle on that famous May 1 but was
IN the thick of the fight throughout.
? The Raleigh was steaming along third
in line wher the Spanish squadron was
sighted in the little Bay of Cavite. One
of her five-inch guns returned a ready re-
Spouse to the Spaniard's tardy salutatlon.
Another shot came from the Spanish
shore batteries and, as the American
ships We're on a sharp lookout for the
fleet, the Concord placed a siX-inch shell
so close to the spot whence the enemy
had fired that it killed several of their
gunrers.
Our cruisers were in the following order
when the Spanish squadron was sighted;
the Olympia, flagship; the Baltimore, the
Raleigh, the Petrol, the Concord and the
Boston. They had passed to the north
west of Manila and were holding to the
south.
The Spanish squadron was inferior to
the attacking fleet, but its position, I'M
der the protection of shore batteries, gave
it an euualizing strength. 1t is estimated
by all experts that one gun mounted on
shore is worth several aboard ship. The
| SUN llEhJ " hNNN tii' 49,
therefore, able to fire with much greater
accuracy.
On the third urn in the famous fight
the Raleigh was caught in a strong in
settirS current and was carried very
/ close to the bows of the Spanish cruisers.
The officers of the other American ships
expected to- see the Raleigh go to the bot
tom. The enemy's ships seemed paralyz-
ed. The Raleigh sent in two raking fires
before she steamed back into place. 1t
was on the third turn, too, that the great
duel between the hagships took place.
When the American ships withdrew af-
ter the first round so that the men might
have an opportunity to rest and eat
breakfast, Captain Coghlan reported to
Commodore Dewey: "Out of the jaws of
death, out of the gates of hell, and only
a little smoky from the trip"
In the second round, when the Balti-
more headed for the Cristina and Aus
tria, the Olympia and Raleigh FOLLOWED
her closely. The Cristina destroyed, at
tention was turned to the Austria. A shell
! from the Raleigh, struck the S~paniard's
magazine and exploded it. SO terrific was
the explosion that the flying fragments
of the cruiser tore away all the upper
works of the gunboat Ell Correo, which
lay beside her.
The fleet disposed of, the American yes
sells next turned their attention to the
batteries. There were some good gun
nurs in, the Hirtorios battery. One Of
their shells smashed a whaleboat of the
Raleigh. 1t was not until the Raleigh
sailed in to about 900 yards and had kill
ed six gunners that the battery was 81
Ienced.
TIL Baltimore and the Raleigh the day
BATTER the big fight went down the bay
fand destroyed six batteries at the en-
trance. The Spanish garrison had seen
enough of American craftsmanship the
day before ard took care to keep out of
the way.
The Raleigh, a sister of the Cincinnati,
was launched at Norfolk in 1892. She is
a steel cruiser of the second C lass, with
twin screws Inc two schooner rugged
masts, with military tops. She is 800 feet
long, AZ feet beam, IS feet draught and
has a tonnage of 1888. Her speed is Is
knots. She carries vertical four cylinder
triple expansion engines and four double
ended and two single-ended boilers. Her
deck is protected with armor from one
to two and one-half inches thick. and she
carries a cellulose belt. The armor on
her coming tower is two inches thick,
and she has two inches of steel in her
Sponsors.
She carries one 6-inch rapid fire gun on
her forecastle, ten 5-inch rapid fire guns
two on the poor and four on each side
of the gun deck, in spOnsOns-eight g.
pound and four 1-pound rapid fire guns,
two Calling machine guns and six tor
pedo tubes. Her crew numbers 295.