Evening star., 1901-10-11
The Attack on the Colon.

The Attack on the Colon.
The witness was officer of the deck from
noon until O clock on the S1st of May, and
described the part the Massachusetts took
In the attack on the Colon. They steamed in
from the westward at a speed of from
five to ten knots and were steaming in
thirty minutes. During the action of May
81 he went on the starboard eight-inch
turret having charge of the starboard and
port eight-eight turrets. Just after start
ing he was informed that the commander
in-chief wanted to see the deck officers.
II do not remember" he said, talking
with Commodore Schley, but 1 think Capt.
Higginson informed me we were to steam
by the entrance 1000 yards from the Colon
and / returned to my turret. AS We passed
by my port battery came in bearing and
1 ordered my assistant to fire. / gave him
the range as 1880 yards. We fired two
shots at that range. We were unable to
sponge the guns quick enough to get in a
second shot and therefore did not fire any
more on that run. 1t could not have been
more than three minutes that we were able
to fire on that run.
The time of this firing had been taken by
a yeoman and record was made on a slip
of paper which was given to the witness,
but he had lost it. He did not see the
fall of these shots, but these shots and
other shots were short. On the return
passage the range was increased, and his
gun was fired at range of $500 yarus.
The third shot on this run was nred at
10000 yards He saw the shots as fired
at $500 yards fall short. From his obser-
vation he did not think the shore batteries
amounted. to much. They appeared to be
very weak.
O. Did you make notes or have any or
der to make any notes this trip? A.
1 made notes whatever. We went In
with the understanding that we were to
try to sink the Colon.
Q. (By the COURT Did you take cross
hpo To of bp
Massachusetts on the morning of the 18th,
18th, ?0th and 31st Of May? A. L did not
Q. Were you ordered to direct the fire
of your division to the Colon or at the
batteries? A. At the Colon.
Commodore schIey's Report.
The judge advocate then said he desired
to introduce two cipher kilograms sent by
Commodore Schley to the department June
/, 1898. These messages described the ac
tion Of May 81, which was, in them, called
a reconnaissance, which was made at 1000
yards, and for the purpose, 1t was stated
by the commodore, of destroying the
Colon. The first dispatch also stated that
the guns at the east and west of the en-
trance were of large caliber and of long
range. The second dispatch was to the
same effect, but in greater detail. This dis
patch also stated that ''the Notifications
were provided with long-range guns of
large caliber."
Lieut.. Dewey Testifes.
Lieut.. E. G. Dewey, who was watch and
division officer on the Massachusetts, dur
ing the Spanish war, gave his testimony.
Lieut.. Dewey is a nephew of Admiral
Dewey, whom he strikingly resembles. On
the Massachusetts he was in command of
the after thirteen-inch turret. Asked to
describe the blockade at Santiago. he said:
after arriving off Santiago the ships
steamed pretty generally easterly and
westerly across the entrance to the harbor
about SEQ yards distance between the ships
of the squadron. The distance from the
entrance to the harbOr, as 1 remember it,
was from five to eight miles. The smaller
ships acted as picket boats. The Marble
head, remember and one of the yachts,
do not remember which one, acted as an
inner blockade. We steamed slowly across
the mouth of the harbor and counter
marched about every two hours.
Q. How far east and west did the column
steam? A The line, should say. was six
or eight miles long; that is three or four
miles on either side of the entrance. That
was the line of steaming.
Q. Was there any difference between the
blockade by day and at night? A. To the
best of my recollection it was the same by
day time as by night, SO far as the en-
trance to the harbor was concerned, but
we were not steaming during the day time
Q. What formation had you? A. do not
remember that there was any particular
formation.
enemy had come out? A. No orders that 1
had knowledge of. I do not think we could
have seen the enemy.
Q. Why could you not have seen the en-
en-y? A. Owing to the darkness and the
distance from the harbor. During the night
did not think we could have seen them
l think when we We're at the western end
of the line the ships could have come out
and stood to the eastward without our see
ing them.
Q. How about when you We're at the other
end? A. think it would have been the
same in either case
Q. Did you participate in the affair of the
31st of May? A. did
Q. What division did you have charge Of?