New-York tribune., 1901-02-17
TIE BATTLE OF SANTIAGO.
A PAINTING OF THE ENGAGEMENT
PLACED IN THE OFFICE OF THE
CHIEF CONSTRUCTOR
OF TIE NAVY.

OF TIE NAVY.
Washington Feb. IG-ProbabIy no officer of
the United states Navy has taken a more lively
Interest in the welfare OF this branch OF the
Governmental service than the present Chief
Constructor OF the Navy. Rcar-Admrai Philip
iHchborn. Notwithstanding his multi,udin"us
duties chief Of the Bureau which has il
charge the construction and repair Of an v-ss Is
a the Navy. he has found time within thc last
few years II investigate the history 81 early
Iayal architecture in America. and as a result
has placed IN tho office of tn, Chief Constructor
series # seven paintings Illustrating four hun
dred years of progress IN this sc..ucc- from tl.
cararcls of Columbus, in li93. to the Tcnr -yl-
yania class Of battleships Of 1901
H. addition 10 this series and a. a climax to
the Story Of naval progress. a large painting of
the latest engagement which reflected credit on
United States naval construction has l-.u
added. Tho Patyl- of S.ul.aso d, Cuoa." Al
most AL III vessels engaged Ia This a,.i,u y.,r-
from designs Of which Mr Hichhara had sur,.-
vision. and while certain prid, - ST. for THIS
fact tho greater delight Of perp,tuatnr th-
heroism of the Oh ecrs and men and the glory
achieved Icy the United States Navy has artu-
n;cl the preparation and hanging of this canvas.
1t may he remembered tina; between =, -, AMI
10 o'clock on the morning Of sunday. July =.
lSS. when the Spanish vessels attempted 10
escape from Santiago Dc CuhI. the United States
blockadinE fleet consisted Of thc Brn">Iyn the
Texas. n" Oregon. The Iowa. the Indiana and
the auHillaries Gloucester and Vixen arranged
in a semi-circle about the harhor entrance.
about two ana 4 half to four miles from shore.
that being the Limit of the day boclalinl, dis
tance Two other vcss Is II the fleet were un-
avoidahy absent. the Massachusetts and the
he"-fork, tho former having left at I o'clock
a m for Guantanamo o. coal. and ,he latter to
convey E'ar-Adinir.l Sampson 70 .iboney for
Il conference with General Shaft.r.
When Il. Spanish ie-t cleared the harbor's
entrance il became al once apparent that a run
ming fight vas ul.nned instead f au attack
upon the American Set. This method + escape
attempted by the Spanish He-t. al strerinl; i'm
the same direction ard IN single formation mad.
the scheme Of battle easy for the American.
squadron.
III" first rush of the Spania1ds to the west
Aard carried them PAST number of the vea-
s>is OF the blockading squadron. who's, crews
were at sunday quarters for Inspection" but
when the warning "En"my's ships escaping"
was reported from the lockout and general
quarters sounded. the dropped clean
Clothes and polished accoutr,ments and with a
cheer sprang To the guns. The thorough
training they had received in the service qulckly
demonstrated that the enemy had encountered
no ordinary opponent, for in less than three
quarters Of hour from the time the last
Spanish vessel had left the har!or four of the
siH vessels comprising the fleet had been re-.
duced to burning shapeless masses of steel by
the terrible accuracy of the American Eunners
The Spanish plan of escape resulted in an
engagement extending over a distance of fifty
miles. the vessels of both fleets in the mean tim.
changing their relative positions. The time Sc
lected for the painting was about 1O:2u a clock
a. m. in position 4. as shown on Chart showing
positions of ships of Admiral Cerveras squadron
and those of the United States fleet in the battle
Hf July B. 1898. off Santiago de Cuba" pub
8shed by the Bureau of Navigation.
: This position is off Cabrera Point. looking
eastward. The Spanish ships are seen close In