Evening star., 1902-02-20

% spaaIsn =. sniPs p,n .1tHe thds Mess; IN IN,
stood straight in towards the Spaniards,
as the other American ship4 did. 1t seemed
to me that the fight would have been set
tied then, without need Of the long chase"
The following is Commander VAIN
wrights statement:
'At the outset of the nGhV the New York
was not much farther away from me in
one direction than the Brooklyn was in the
other and was in plain sight A signal
from Admiral Taylor In connection with
my moving forward to attack the torpedo
boats was the only signal I received.
made one to the New kork13ust before the
last torpedo boat sank. The New York at
that time was coming up under the fire of
the batteries, and herself fired q couple of
shots at the torpedo boat. OF course Ad-
mfral Sampson was present and in COM
mand. I received no signals from the
Brooklyn, and would not have noticed her
at all had 1t not been for the fact that
when the other vessels closed In she made
what has been since called the loop so
that my attention was attracted by not
seeing the Texas because she stopped and
by not seeing the Brooklyn because she
went seaward, away from the Spanish ves-
sells. In other words. the left or westward
part Of our line was refused, and this at
tracted my attention, because 1t seemed to
to me from where was that this permit
ted the Spanish vessels to try to escape
westward"
Survey Of Damages.
The survey Of the damages Of the four
Spanish war vessels shows that in addition
to several score hits by the 6-pounder and
1-pounder guns Of the American fleet, they
were struck 43 times by the larger guns
of four inches caliber and over The Colon,
which came out inside the others and did
comparatively little fighting. received but
three Of these hits. The other three ships.
which bore the brunt Of the action, re-
ceived forty among them. OF these forty
eleven, according to the report of the board
which examined into them, were by 4-inch.
guns ten by 5-inch guns, four by either 4
or 5-inch the board could not determine
which,, while one was by either a or G.
inch twelve were by S-inch and two by
12-inch guns. All Of our big ships except
the Texas had s-inch guns. Only the Texas
and Iowa had 12-inch guns. The Oregon
and Indiana had 13-inch guns; and they
and the Texas had 6-inch guns. The only
4-inch guns were on the Iowa; the only
5-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
from either the Iowa or the Brook
lyn. and two from either the Iowa or
the Texas. OF the three which struck the
Colon two were 5-inch and must have come
from the Brooklyn one was either a 5-inch
or 6-inch. It must be remembered that
the and 5-inch guns were the only quick
frerS above 6-pounderS In our fleet and
that they were not only much more rapidly
but much more surely handled than were
the larger and slower-flring guns The
damage and loss of the American vessels
were trivial. The only loss suffered was
aboard the Brooklyn. where one man was
killed and one wounded. In damage, the
cost Of the repairs shows that the Iowa
suffered most and the Oregon least The
American ships engaged possessed more
than twofold material superiority over the
CHI hn to-,
handling Of their guns, and their engines
was even greater. We, have just cause to
be proud Of the vigilance and instant readi-
ness our ships displayed, ana workmanlike
The most striking act was that Of the
Gloucester, a converted yacht, which her
commander, Wainwright. pushed into the
fight through a hail Of fpro1ectiles 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 offensive power
Details Of the Fight.
From the statements Of the captains
above, from the official reports, and from
the testimony before the court Of inquiry.
the fight can be plotted with absolute GER
tainty in it's important outlines. though
there is conflict as to minor points. When
the four Spanish cruisers came out OF the
harbor the New York had left her position
IN the Dl0cKaQ1ng line IOTLy OT lOIly-uVS
minutes before. She had hoisted the signal
Disregard the movements OF the COM
mander-in chief" but had not hoisted the
signal to the second In command to take
charge, which. as appears oy the signai
book, was sometimes but not always used
when the command was transferred 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
easternmost blockading ships than the lat
ter were from the Brooklyn, which was the
Spanish ships appeared the five big Ameri-
can blockaders started toward them In ac-
cordance with the standing orders OF Ad-
miral Sampson. After this first move each
acted purely on his own Initiative. For
some minutes the Spanish and American
vessels steadily approached one another,
and the fighting was at It's hottest Then
the already damaged Spanish ships turned
the westernmost American vessel. the
Brooklyn, which was nearest the Spanish
line. turned to the eastward, making
loop or three-quarter circle, at the end OF
of from and farther behind the Spanish
vessels than before the loop had begun.
but still ahead of any OF the American ves-
sells. although farther outside. The Texas,
the next ship to the Brooklyn, either was
or conceived herself to be put In such jeop-
ardy by the Brooklyn's turn toward her
that she backed her engines, coming al
most or quite to a standstill: SO that both
the Oregon and the Iowa, which were orig
inally to the eastward OF her, passed her,
and 1t was some time after she again start
ed before she regained her former position
relatively to the Spanish vessels. 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
damage: The two torpedo boats. which had
followed them out Of the harbor, were
now destroyed by the fire of the rearmost
of the big American vessels and Of the Giou-
cester. which headed straight In for them,
paying no more heed to their Quick-hre
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 Vfscaya were de-
stroyed. the Indiana gradually dropped be-
hind, although she continued to fire until
the last Of the three vessels went ashore.
The Brooklyn was ahead of any Of the
other American vessels on course outside
theirs; she was nearly broadside on to the
Spaniards. The Oregon. Iowa and Texas
were all close together and actively en-
gagged throughout this running fght. The
Brooklyn and Oregon, followed at some
distance by the Texas. then continued in
chase Of the Colon. which went nearly thir-
ty miles farther before she also went
ashore. During this chase, of the Colon
there was practically no hghting.
These are the facts hs Set forth above
In the statements Of the captains,. and else
where in their Official II 1eporfs and teSti-