The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-10-08
EFFECT OF SHELL FIRE.
Spanish Cruiser Rpina Mercedes a
Terrible Example Of Deslrac.
iiTeneSS Of Modern
ProjrcliIrS.
san Francisco Chronicle

san Francisco Chronicle.
The former spanish crusier Reina
Mercedes. now az the Norfolk Navy
Yard. is the mos, interesting trophy OF
the spanish American war. Tor she is
th- cnly vessel of considerable slEs
remaining Of that magnificent squad
rOn which FOR some months gave a
scare 70 the Atlantic seaboard cities
on July T. the day following the dis
astrUus dash Of the Maria Teresa. Vie
caya. oquendo. Colon, Pluton and
Furor the Reina Mercedes was the only
vessei-of-war remaining in Santiago
harbcr. and Lieutenant Muellery Te-
jeiro OF the Spanish navy and General
Toral concluded to sink the ship In
the narrow part Of the channel to pre-
vent the Americans ships from enter
irg The vessel was stripped Of all lis
movable articles and with a small crew
the ship was sunk AZ the intended spot.
in which operation the battleshlps
Massachusetts, and Texes materially
assisted through a heavy and we'll
directed hre from their six-lnch guns.
The Reina Mercedes did not sink across
the channel as intended. for. as In the
case Of the Merrimac sunk by Hobson
near the same spot, a projeclile cut
the spring on the cable and the harbor
was not obstruoted. The spanlards.
however. felleitated themselves that
the enemy could not take possession
Of her. az she was all riddled by shot,
and would b. entirely useless.
The work ~ raising the Relna Mer-
cedes was undertaken by the Merritt
& Chapman Wrecklng Company Of
New York, and began on January 2.
last coflerdam was built around
the hull; all openings in the vessel were
closed. and when the water was pump
ed out Of the cofferdam the ship float !
ed on March first she was towed into
Santiago harbor made temporarily sea-
worthy and towed 70 Norfolk. where
she arrived in the latter end 1f May, !
The terrible effects OF shell fire on an
vessel are clearly shown on
this shin. One slx-lnch shell, which
entered the ships sides between decks
and close 10 the midshlp sponsor. went
through bulkhead and coal
bunkers, going through the deck into
the engine hatch, and must have made
havoc in the machinery below where
tho fragments Of the shell scattered.
One well directed shot Of this descrir-
ton would put ship out Of hight
as machinery and men would be de-
stroyed, and portions o. the shell pass- !
Ing through the b6ttom Of the vessel
she would be doomed to sink.
The uncouth appearance Of the ship
IL largely due to her having accumu-
lated a vast quantity Of barnacles dur
Ing six months submerslon in tropical
waters, but the Reina Mercedes at no
time presented the appearance Of an
American war vessel the fittings being /
of the crudest and more like those Of
delapidated cattle transport. She is an
iron vessel Of 5000 tons, built at Carta-
gena in 1886, the sister ships Alfonso
XII and Reina Christina being built
at the same time. The latter was de-
stroyed by Dewey's squadron in Manila
bay. and the Alfonso remained at Ha-
vana through the entire war. The only
use In which the Reina Mercedes was
put was to sink her as harbor OBJ
structlon, and she Is Of no other use
TO our navy than as naval trophy
she is Of a class that forms the con-
Meeting link between the old and mod
ern navy, and while her speed when
new, was seventeen and one-half
knots. II would require new machinery
and an outlay Of 100000 to utilize her
az n cruiser The guns which had been
found on board had been destroyed by
the action Of salt water, and az already
stated the ship has no value except IN
that It furnishes an object lesson Of
The destructlveness Of modern gun hre,
and the sight Of her is good for Amer
can eyes. u