The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-27
THAT FAMOUS LOOP.
Capt. Cook of the Brooklyn Tells
why 1t Was Made.
From the Baltimore Sun.

]
why 1t Was Made.
From the Baltimore Sun.
Newport, r. l.. July 24.-Capt. Fran
els A. Cook, who during the Spanish
American War was in command of the
cruiser Brooklyn, which was the flag
ship of Admiral Schley's flying squad
| ron,'' gave in an interview here to-day
| clear and interesting description of
the Brooklyns famous loop at Santi-
ago, which is again the subject of con-
| troVersy. He also talked in reference
| to the statement which has been made,
| that the Brooklyn was not in posses
| sion of the code of signals improvised
| for use between the Cuban insurgents
and the American ships during the war.
His description and explanation of
the Brooklyns loop are at variance
with much that has been said and
written regarding the incident. 1t is
his opinion that the so-called loop is
a question of little Importance. -
There is nothing in the loop" he
said. ut had nothing whatever to do
with the battle, but was due to circum-
| stances 1t was purely a tactical and
| a natural movement.
1--WE had come from the west, and
it was necessary to go back again. So
we ported our helm to hold off the
| Spanish fleet and the Spanish turned
| to the westward while we were turn
ing rapidly to the starboard.
His Conversation With Schley.
THE Spanish fleet stood out of the
harbor about southwest, and it did not
turn at once. We feared that it was
heading in between the Brooklyn and
the Texas. l said to Admiral Schley:
| We may get a cross-fire here 1t
looked very much to us as if we
would"
According to the Captains story, the
situation at the time with reference
to the possible crossfire was delicate in
| the extreme.
But then" he continued, 1.-The Brook
| Ign made a beautiful turn and we were
able to fire directly into the bows of
the leading ship pr the enemy. Our
helm was put aport to head off the
Spanish fleet and the Brooklyn turned
rapidly and beautifully. l remember
distinctly giving the order to the quar-
termaster. You see clearly the head
of the leading ship, I said to him.
The idea is to get directly ahead of
her. That was the order.
Danger of Sacrificing Ship.
'T thought we might sacrifice our
| ship, but l believed we would hold the
| fleet for our battleships. This l told
| Admiral Schley.
when the Spanish fleet turned to
| the westward and the BrooklynS helm
was put hard aport she was swinging
beautifully. She turned until she
Strengthened upon her course exactly
parallel to the Spanish ships, keeping
up all the time a continuous fire from
her port battery until the starboard
| battery could be brought into use.
'The statement has been made that
| the Brooklyn in turning ran two miles
| south This is outrageously incorrect.
| The Brooklyn turned as rapidly as pos
sible' and was after the enemy as fast
as any ship could have been"
To indicate exactly his meaning Cap
| tain Cook said:
1.-The Oregon when she Joined the
Brooklyn steamed between the Iowa
and the Texas and must have gained
distance to the north-that is, in the di-
rection of the enemy and still on
| parallel course with the Brooklyn. She
| was not more than 600 yards from the
| westward course of the Brooklyn,
showing conclusively that the Brooklyn
could not have gone to the southwark"
Light on Important Point.
Captain Cooks statement that he
! thought he might sacrifice the ship and
told Schley so, but that he believed
! in doing so he would leave the enemy
a prey of the American battleships,
| adds new interest to the Brooklyn s
experience at Santiago, and, indeed, to
the discussion of Schley's motives dur
ing the engagement
So far as known, the idea Schley and
| Cook had, that they might have to sac
rifice their ship for the. sake of win
| ming the fight now comes to light for
the first time through Captain Cooks
| statement. Besides, according to Cap
tain Cook, the famous loop which the
Brooklyn made at that point was a
| tactical movement made necessary by
| the position in which the Brooklyn
found herself by the heading off of the
| Spanish feet and the purpose of Schley
| to follow the flying enemy in its un-
looked for movement in turning sharp
| ly westward.
signals That Were WithheIds
Speaking of the signals withheld
from Schley, Capt. Cook said:
"The Brooklyn was not put in pos
session of the code of signals that had
been arranged for use by the insur-
| gents and the ships of our navy. on
| account of our lack of knowing them
we were greatly mystified by certain
| signs we observed on the beach at
| Cienfuegos. We saw one night. the
! date of which l cannot give without
my notes, three horizontal lanterns on
the beach there. As we afterward
| learned, they were a sign from the in
surgents that they wished TO commu-
| nicate with us, but we, having no
knowledge Of their import. thought the
lanterns trap Of some sort, and we
1 n HlNF