The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-02-20

from Admirals Philip, Evans and Taylor,
Captain Clark Of the Oregon and Com
mander Wainwright. the late Admiral
Philips version being taken from maya
zine article written by that officer. The
gist3 of all these statements Is that Adj
m1ral Sampson was really in COMMAND
during the battle. Mr.. RooseveltSpro-
ceeds: .S As - 80
| How the Spaniards Were Damaged.
The survey Of the damages Of the four
| Spanish war vessels shows that in addition
to several scoreShots by the six-pounder and
one FOUNDER guns of the American fleet, they
were struck forty three times by the larger
guns OF four inches caliber and over. The
Colon, which, came out ihsides the others and
did comparatively little Fighting, received but
three of these shots. The other three ships,
| which bore the brunt Of the action, received
| forty among them. OF these forty, eleven,
according to the report of the board which
examined into them, were by four-inch guns,
! ten by fve-inch guns, four by either four or
| fve-inch (the board could not determine
which, while one was by either a five Or six
! inch, twelve were by an eight-inch and two
| by twelve-inoh guns.
| All OF our big ships except the Texas had
! eight-inch guns. Only the Texas and Iowa
/ had twe1ye-inch guns The Oregon and In
diana had thtrteen-inch guns; and they and
! the Texas had six-inch guns. The only four
inch guns were on the Iowa: the only FIVE
| inch guns on the Brooklyn. Therefore. on
the three Spanish ships which did the bulk
OF the fighting, out of the forty large cali
Der shots that struck them eleven certainly
came from the Iowa. ten certainly from the
| Brooklyn. four from either the Iowa or the
Brooklyn, and two from either the Iowa or
the Texas.
| OF the three which struck the Colon. two
were dve-1nch and must have come from the
Brooklyn; one was either five or a six
men, II must be remembered that the four
ana nVe-lnch guns were the only quick -frerg
above six-pounders in our fleet and that thew
were not only much more rapidly but much
more surely handled than were the larger
| and slower firing guns.
| Cause for Pride.
The damage and loss Of the American ves
| sells was trivial. The only loss suffered was
| on board the BROOKLYN. where one man was
killed and one wounded. ~ @
IN damage. the cost of repairs shows that
| the Iowa suffered most and the Oregon least
The American ships engaged POSSESSED mora
than two-fold material superiority over the
Spanish ships, and the difference in the hand
ling OF their guns and their engines was
even greater.
| We have just cause to be proud of the vigil
| lance and instant readiness our ships dis
played and the workman like efficiency with
!
| Ing act was that Of the Gloucester. q con-
verified yacht, which her commander, VAIN
wright, pushed into the fight through g.
nall OF Drojectiles. any one of which would
have sunk her In order that he might do his
part In destroying the two torpedo boats,
each possessing far more than his own Of
| fensive power.
From the statements of the captains above;
from the official reports. and from the testi-
.nony before the court of inquiry, the fight
| can be plotted with absolute certainty in
It's important outlines. though there Is con-
| hict as to minor points. Xxi .. -
! When the four Spanish cruisers came out
Of the harbor. the New York had left her
position in the blockading lines forty or forty
five minutes before. She had hoisted the
signal, Disregard the movements of the
| commander-in-chief,'' but had not hoist ed the
signal to the second in command to take
| charge, which, as appears by the signal
book was sometimes, but not always. used
when the command was transferred. t..
AS soon as the engagement began, the
New York turned and steamed back, hosting
| signal to close in, which. however. none
of the squadron saw She was in plain sight
and not very much farther from the eastern
most blockading ships than the latter were
| from the Brooklyn. which was the western
| most of the line. AS soon as the Spanish
ships appeared the five big American block
aders started toward them. in accordance
with the standing orders Of Admiral Sampson
Each for Himself. ~ @:%r~
After this first move, each acted purely on
I his own initiative. For some minutes the
| Spanish and American vessels steadily ap-
| preached one another, and the fighting was at
\ its hottest. Then the already damaged Span
| sh ships turned to the westward, while at
the same time the Westernmost American
,vessel-the Brooklyn-whch was nearest the
Spanish line, turned to the eastward, max
| Ing loop Of three-quarters of a circle, at
the end OF which she again headed westward,
! farther off from and farther behind the Span
! ish vessels than before the loop had begun,
! but Still ahead of any of the American yes
| sells, although farther outside.
The Texas, the next ship to the Brooklyn,
! either was, or conceived herself to be, in
such Jeopardy by the Brooklyn's turn. to-
| ward her that she backed her engines, coming
| almost to a standstill, so that both the Ore
gon and the Iowa, which were originally to
| the eastward of her, passed her, and it was
| some time after she again started before she
! regained her former position relatively to the
! Spanish vessels. ... .->.s..
! The Spanish vessels had Strengthened out
! in column for the west the Colon going in
side of the others and gradually forging
ahead Of them without suffering much dam
| age. The two torpedo boats, which had fol-
! lowed them out Of the harbor were now de-
| stroyed by the fire of the rearmost Of the
American big vessels and Of the Gloucester,
| which headed straight in for them, paying
no more heed to their quick-fre guns than
| to the heavy artillery Of the forts, to which
! she was also exposed. .-
| In the running fight which followed until
the Teresa, Oquendo and Viscaya were de-
stroyed, the Indiana gradually dropped be-
| hind, although she continued to fire until the
last OF the three vessels went ashore-the
1 Brooklyn was ahead of any OF the other
American vessels on course outside theirs;
she was nearly broadside on to the Spaniards
l. The Oregon, Iowa and Texas We're all close
| together and actively engaged throughout this
running fight. The Brooklyn and Oregon,
followed at some distance by the Texas, then
! continued in chase of the Colon, which went
| nearly thirty miles farther before she also
| went ashore During this chase of the Colon
there was practically no flghtingxk These facts
! are set forth above in the statements Of the
| captains, and elsewhere in their official re-
ports and testimony. They leave no room for
| doubt on any important point. 5.t7t..t.<
Merely a Technical Question
The question of command; is in this: case