Evening star., 1901-10-03
log book which relates to the turning with
the port helm, as follows:
The BrookIyp's Turn

ship Ghe Brooklyn) and the other vessels
namely, Texas. Oregon, Indiana Iowa,
vixen and Gloucester, engaged the enemy
at once. The enemy stood toward us at
nrst, then put helm a-port and stood along
snore close in to the westward We en-
gagged with port battery at first. standing
IN tor the Maria Teresa, the Colon and the
Niscaya, all three of which we engaged;
put Just as soon the enemy stood to the
westward put helm to port. swinging Ia
httie mterlineatfon here) clear of the fire
or the Texas, so as to bring the starboard
battery to bear, and stood parallel to the
enemy"
The witness then stated that the original
entry In the log had made it appear that
the helm was put to starboard instead OF
to port, as it appears in the permanent log.
Ihe change, he said, had been made on
the 9th of July, two days after the acti Dn.
Asked why he changed it, Mr.. Doyle said:
changed it after | had had discus
sion with Sharp. had been under the i'm
preston as / have stated, that we had
turned with starboard helm. Sharp was
ABOARD the Brooklyn on July to luncheon
with us, and / had discussion with him
that day on that subject | think that is
the time l changed it,"
DO you know whether the navigator had
then signed the log as correct?"
Il do not. SIR
why were the interlined words put imp
They We're put in 1 think-in fact.
know-at the suggestion of some person,
probably the navigator They We're put in
evidently after the log was written up, be-
cause they are interlined."
about how was the ship heading at the
time within the quadrant of a circit-
southwark to westward, northward to east
ward?' -- e..
I'VE were headed at the beginning of the
battle inshore-that is to say, the head of
our ship was probably about north, and as
soon as the Spanish ships came out and
got on top of the port turret the ship was
then moving ahead and turning with port
helm, because the Spanish ships were
little on our starboard bow; but we were
manning the port battery and stared to
swing first and brought the port battery
into action. Now, then, We must have con-
tinued around there, as / know now, but
when 1 was In the starboard turret We lost
sight of the ships because they were on
our port bow
THE effect. then, of putting the helm
aport, emitting the interlined words. in
bear, would be to send the vessel through
more than $50 degrees, would it not, in
turning?"
Certainly; yes. We were headed about
northeast, and that would mean more than
$50 degrees
THE cheaper way would have been to put
the helm to starboard, would it not?'
Il am not prepared to say"
- If the ship was headed northeast and the
chase was going nearly west or on a west
ward course?'
Yes. you could make the turn that way"
DO you of your own knowledge know of
ehis lhiiS " prevent souI
Proximity of the Spanish Ships.
when 1 was on top of the starboard
turret it looked very much to me as
though we were going to have a general
melee or mix-up with the Spanish ships"
How far were they from you at the
timer
when we took them up on the star
board quarter, after we made part of the
turn, / remember the range. it was 400
yards
How do you verify that range?"
Il have no way of verifying that We
had to take the range given to U.S."
What L mean by verification is as to
whether or not shots were fired at that
range and how they fell
Il did not see the shots l fired at that
range. L fired one, | know"
Mr.. Rayner then took the witness and
asked him if it was not true that the
change in the log was not due to an error
on the part of the witness and to no desire
upon the part of anybody to falsify the
facts.
Absolutely" was the response
And the error" continued Mr.. Rayner,
occurred, l understood you to say, in
this way: That during the action you could
not see on account of the smoke. and that
the ship did turn with starboard helm and
SO entered?'
YES" was the reply 1--WE lost track of
the enemy in the first instance with the
port battery by our own bow shutting the
enemy out and showing that at that time
We must have had our helm little star
board, or that the enemy was going with
starboard helm
And then when you learned you had
been mistaken you made the changer
Il changed the entry, and L think if you
had the rough copy here you would find it
was changed in my own handwriting"
Mr.. Rayner then stated to the court that
1t was his desire to treat Lieutenant Doyle
as witness for Admiral Schley.
Lieut.. DoyIe's Narrative.
To this the court assented and Mr.. Ray
ner asked the witness a series of ques-
tions calculated to bring out brief his
tory Of the Brooklyns part in the San
tiago campaign and full statement of his
observations while an officer on board that
vessel
Mr.. Doyle said, in response to these cues
tions, that while at Key West, which port
the Brooklyn had left at the head of the
flying squadron on May 10. 1898, he had
heard nothing of the Spanish fleet, nor had
he then been informed of secret code of
signals arranged by Captain McCalla for
communicating with the Cuban insurgents
Relating the particulars of the blockade
OF CienfuegoS by the flying squadron from
the 21St to the oath of May, Lieutenant
Doyle said he recalled the arrival of the
Iowa and the Dupont off CienfuegDs on
May p of the Hawk on the 23d aid of
the Marblehead on the 9th. He said that
he had observed three lights which looked
like bonfires on the shore each night that
the squadron lay off Cienfuegos but that
neither he nor any one else or board so
far as he knew, understood their purport
He also told of a reconnaissance of the har-
Dor at Cienfuegos on the evening of the
I'D of May; of the conversation with the
officers of the British ship Adula and Of
the arrival Of the Marblehead and The de-
parture of the entire squadron for Sam
tiago after the last-named vessel had made
communication with the Cubans ashore.
Then, he said, on the night of the oath
the ships formed in squadron and started
eastward, the speed at first being nine
knots an hour, but afterward being re-
duced to accommodate the small vessels
the Vixen and the Eagle When they made
their start there was quite surf, long
swell of the sea- and on the 25th the
weather was still worse, making it -ery
difficult for the yachts to keep up.
Lieutenant Doyle placed the distance of
the American fleet off Santiago from the
mouth of the harbor at from three to four
miles, and said there were picket boats on
the inside of the line. Speaking of the
bombardment of the Colon on the 31st OF
May, he and Mr. Rayner designating IT as
a reconnaissance, Lieutenant Doyle said
that its effect had been to develop the
fact that the Spaniards had new guns in
their land batteries