Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-21
WHO SUNK SPANISH SHIPS:
HobsOn Says 1t Wasn't Dewey - The
Admirars Reply.

Aum1rals tepy.
A dispatch from Vancouver. printed yes
terday quotes Naval Constructor Hobson.
who went out to Manila to save what he
could of the wrecks of the former Spanish
fleet, and who is now on his way home, as
saying that Dewey sunk none of the Span
ish vessels-that all were scuttled by the
Spanish crews.
Asked in what condition he had found the
hulls of the Isla de Cuba the Isla de Luzon
and the rest of the fleet, Hobson said:
THE damage to the hullS was mainly
the result Of the six months submersion
The upper works had been badly damaged
by fire. the woodwork having been de-
stroyed and the iron plates badly twisted
by the heat"
And what, in your opinion he was
asked, was the direct cause Of the founder
ing of the vessels"
"Oh, the Spaniards pulled out the plugs
and opened the valves. They sunk the
ships themselves our she'll fire did very
little damage
"Then they were unnjured below the
water line?"
Very little; we had practically done them
no damage there at all
Admiral Dewey. when the statement of
Constructor HOb5on was shown to him, did
not attach much Importance to 1t. He said:
Il hardly think the young man meant to
say anything unkind, and perhaps did not
say what is said there The three vessels
which he refers to the ISa de Cuba.
the Isla de Luzon and the Don Juan de
Austria. They were the least injured Of the
ten twelve ships sunk at Manila. Naval
Constructor Cappa, very able man, was
with me- and he and divers and experts
| from Hong Kong made an examination Of
all the Spanish ships. and decided that
these three We're worth saving. Three out
of a dozen. They raised and tempo
rary repairs were made at Cavite. The YES
sells proceeded under their own steam to
Hong Kong, and had been there for some
time undergoing repairs before Mr.. Hobson
matter
| claimed that we sunk the ships | reported
| that we destroyed them. / did see with my
| own eyes an S-inch shell strike the stern of
! the Reina Maria Christina. Admiral Monto-
! jos flagship, and that destroyed her.
| THE statement that the vessels were not
much injured below the water line is prob
| ably true. Every one knows that 1t is i'm
| possible for shells to do much execution
| below the water line, or for anything but
| torpedOes to do much damage there A few
| inches of water is a great protection. Ar
| mored ships are not armored much below
| the water line, the water being protection
| enough from shells.
| Il hardly think it worth while to pay
| much attention to this. You know 1t Is hui
| man nature to deprecate what others have
DONE and Mr. Hobson may not have been
quoted correctly or in full"
Lieutenant Commander III. T. Hall of the
| steam engineering department of the
| Brooklyn navy yard talked about Hobson's
! statement. In an interview in the. New
| York Tribune he is quoted saying:
when the hulls of the Spanish ships
sunk at Manila were raised they We're found
| to be all right. They were simply water
soaked, aside from the burned tops of the
decks. 1t seems to me II the Spaniards,
| seeing that their position was of use
| against the United States vessels took
! refuge back of a land projection and there
sent some of their ships to the bottom. OF
| course some OF the Spanish ships were
| sunk Immediately"
| Lieutenant Commander Hall says he per-
| sonally examined the vessels in question
He served under Dewey at Manila.