Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-02-20

mlral SIMPSONS snip. the New YORK,
was in plain sight. ] saw her turning
to overtake us. Turnout the fight j
considered myself as under his COM
mand. but l received no orders from
him until the Viscaya was aground.
Nor did ! receive any orders whatever
from the Brooklyn. nor should ! have
needed them If / had received them,
inasmuch as l considered Admiral
Sampson to be present and in COM
Inand
The heavy fighting was during the
time when the Spanish vessels were
coming out of the harbor. and there
fore they had stretched fairly to the
westward When they thus stretched
to the westward we all went after
them without orders. of course; we
could do nothing else. Until the Te-
resa and Oquendo ran ashore the Iowa
was close behind the Oregon and ahead
of the Texas, and all of us We're firing
steadily at the Spanish ships. The
Texas then recovered her speed--for
she was dead In the water after having
backed to avoid the Brooklyn, when
the Brooklyn turned-and she went
ahead of the Iowa Both of us con-
tinued to fire at the yiscaya until she
went ashore. Then I stopped, but the
Texas followed the Brooklyn and the
Oregon after the Colon.
when the battle began the New
York was not much farther to the
eastward of me than the Brooklyn was
to the westward After the Niscaya
had grounded the New York overlook
me and signaled me to return to the
mouth of the harbor to prevent any
other Spanish ship from coming out
and attacking the transports. re-
ceived no signals of any kind from the
Brooklyn. All we had to do was to
close in on the Spanish squadron as
it came out of the harbor in obedience
to the orders of Admiral Sampson,
and then, when the heaviest fighting
was on and the Spanish ships were
trying to escape to the westward. to
follow them-and, of course. there was
no signal necessary to tell us to follow
fleeing enemy.
"The machinery of the Iowa was not
in condition to get the best speed, tho
every effort had been made to make 1t
so. Her cylinder heads had not been
off for more than six months, owing to
the service she was performing. Her
bottom was very foul. as she had not
been locked for period of seventeen
months. The Indiana was even in
worse shape.
The New York had left the blockad
ing line flying the signal disregard the
movements of the commander-in-
chief signal frequently made and
we'll understood by the eneire fleet. 1t
did not transfer the command. No
signal was made for the second in
fleet. which was usually done by the
commanders in chief before reaching
the limit of signal distance when he
proposed for any reason temporarily
to relinquish his command to the next
ranking officer.
Admiral TayIor's Statement.
The following is Admiral Taylor's
statement:
"At the beginning of the fight the
New York was about as far to the east
ward of me as the Brooklyn was to the
westward The only signal received
from the New York was at the very
close of the fight when she signaled to
me TO return and guard the mouth of
the harbor so that nothing should come
out to attack our transports. j recelred
no signal whatever from the Brooklyn.
and should not have needed any If one
had been made, as considered Admiral
Sampson present and in command.
From her position the Indiana took full
part in the fight as the Spanish ships
came out of the harbor.
When they ran to the Westward the
Indiana fell behind, but continued fir
ing at them and at the torpedo boats
until all but the Colon were sunk and
heached. ] saw the Brooklyn turn and
run out seward, seemingly over
mile, about the time the rear one of the
Spanish ships turned to the west: II in
stead of making this loop the Brooklyn
had stood straight In towards the
Spaniards, as the other American ships
did. it seemed to me that the fight
would have been settled then without
need of the long chase"
The following is Commander VAIN
wright's statement.
eat the outset of the fight the New
York was not much farther away from
me in one direction than the Brooklyn
was in the other and was plainly In
sight. signal from Admiral Taylor
in connection with my moving forward
to attack the torpedo boats was the on
Nv signal / received. I made one to the
New York just before the last torpedo
boat sank The New York at that time
was coming up under the fire of the
batteries and herself fired couple of
shots at the torpedo boats. OF course
Admiral Sampson was present and in
command. / received no signals from
the Brooklyn and would not have no.
ticed her at all had it not been for the
fact that when the other vessels closed
in she made what has since been called
the loop so that my attention was at
tracted by not seeing the Texas be-
cause she stopped. and by not seeing
the Brooklyn because she went to sea-
In other words, the left or westward
part of our line was confused. and this
attracted my attention because 1T
seemed to me from where l was that
this permitted the Spanish vessels to
try to escape to westward"
Damage to Spanish Ships.
The survey of the damages of the
four Spanish war vessels shows that in
addition to several score hits by six
FOUNDER and one-pounder guns of the
American fleet, they were struck forty
three times by the larger guns of four
inch caliber and over. The Colon.
which came out inside the others and