The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-10
,VICTORYFOR SUMNER
WHITE SQUADRON WON IN THE Ma
VAL GAME.
TOOK PORT, MINED HARBoR.
WON BY THE RULES UNDER WHICH
sQUADRoNs WORKED.


guez, Porto Rico. without OppO-
sition and Laid His Mines-Great
Secrecy Marked the Carrying Out
of the Plans of the "Enemy'sn
SquadrOn-sumne and CrOwnin-
shield Exchange Congratulations.
ships VIII Assemble Under Dewey.
Mayaguez, Porto Rico, Dec "a.
Notable victory was achieved this
morning by Admiral Sumner, in COM
mand of the White Squadron, with
the Iowa, Illinois. Albany and Chica-
go. He captured Mayaguez without re-
sistance at 6:24 a. m, and Immediate
ly mined the harbor.
The Nashville and the Eagle subse-
quently entered the channel and re-
ported that the Atlanta and San Fran
cisco had last been seen off Ponce
and that they perhaps had been over
taken.
Admiral Summers victory was due
to the careful execution of his plans.
At Trinidad he directed the White
Squadron to proceed to a point with
in a circle with a radius of 72G miles,
the center of which was latitude Is
and longitude As. The White Squadron
was reported to Admiral Higginson,
commanding the Blue, or opposing
squadron, at O'Clock in the after
noon of Dec. 5. Admiral Summers OBJ
jective point was Mayaguez, Guayan-
lila. Ponce, Ensenada or Culebra.
Under the rules the White Squadron
would win if it entered the port selected
4
before the arrival of a Blue squadron
80 per cent. superior, or if it entered
it's harbor and completed the work
of mining before the arrival of a Blue
squadron double its strength.
AdmiraIs Had Same Plan.
While at Trinidad, Admiral Sumner
found that Admiral Crownnshield,
commanding the European squadron,
with which the South Atlantic squad
ron combined, had prepared plan
of procedure similar to his own. 1av
ing ascertained that the Nashville,
Atlanta, San Francisco and Eagle were
slow, Admiral Crowninshield suggested
that upon the arrival of the squad
ron within the curve, these vessels
be detached and ordered to proceed,
deployed as scouts, by the nearest
course to a point one hundred miles
south of the eastern end of Porto Rico,
and then north to a point twenty
miles southeast of Ponce, in order
to deceive the enemy as to the where
abouts and intention of the remainder
of the squadron.
The White Squadron sailed from
Trinidad the morning of Dec. 5. The
Iowa. Albany, Illinois and Chicago,
forming an indented column, left the
remainder of the squadron and
steamed at the rate of twelve knots
an hour to latitude 14:40, longitude
1924, which point they reached at 6
O'Clock in the afternoon of Dec 5. The
four vessels then steamed north In
line with the islands.
Ships Ran in Darkness.
prevent discovery. No lights We're
shown, and only small red and blue
flags were used. The flag officers did
their night signalling by whistles and
shielded lights. There was clear
weather throughout the run.
An especially careful watch was kept
Dec. Z, when the four vessels were due
north of Culebra Island. which Adj
miral Sumner supposed to be the CEN
ter of the north and south line of the
Blue scouts. In order to avoid the
scouts Admiral Sumner kept over 200
miles away from the land. On Dec.
S, the Iowa, Albany, Illinois and Chi
cago were parallel with the north shore
of Porto Rico directly north of the
Mona Passage, when they turned to
the south with the intention of making
Santo Domingo, sneakng along the
shore of that island and making dash
across the Mona Passage, under
forced draught, to Mayaguez.
When entering the Mona Passage at
o'clock this morning, the squadron
stopped for a short time. No Blue
cfo Il OH Cd
in the east; then the Olympia, Cincin-
natl, Detroit and Montgomery were
seen.
Then the HnrbOr Was Mined.
All preparations for mining the har-
Dor had been made when the four YES
sells of the White Squadron dropped
their anchors in Mayaguez harbor at
twentyfour minutes past 6 o'clock this
morning.
The last vessel to anchor was the
Chicago. Boats were lowered at once,
and the mining of the channel was fin
ished in thirty-four minutes. Upon
the appearance of the White Squad
ron the Hist discharged green and red
signals and attempted to escape. No
effort was made to prevent her. The
other scouts of the Blue Squadron,
fearing capture, fastened away to
search for Admiral Higginson. The
commander of the Blue Squadron was
last reported at Viequez Island, where
he will be advised by Admiral Sum-
ner's victory.
After the four vessels of the White
Squadron were in the harbor, Admiral
Crowninshield signald1 the following
message to Admiral Sumner:
Congratulations upon your great
success, to which bold navigation con-
tributed."
To this Admiral Sumner replied:
"Thank you; accept my congratula-