Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-02-28
OLYMPIA WASHINGTON FRIDAY EVENING, FEB g. 1902

spectlvely entitled. What have to
decide, therefore, is whether or not
President Mckinley did injustice in
the matter.
"This necessarily involves a CON-
parlson OF the actions of the different
commanders engaged. The exhaust.
i've official reports of the action leave
little to be brought out anew; but as
the question of Admiral Sampson's
right to be considered in chief com.
mand, which was determined in his
favor by President Mckinley and
later by the Court of Claims, has
never hitherto been officially raised.
l deemed it best to secure statements
from the commanders of the five ships
other than the Brooklyn and New
York, (the lagships of the two Admi-
rals), which were actively engaged in
the fight. Admiral Philip is dead. /
quote extracts from his magazine ar.
ticle on the fight, written Immediately
after it occurred, closing with an ex-
tract OF his letter to the Secretary of
the Navy dated February 27. 1899:
"The survey of the damages of the
four Spanish war vessels shows that in
addition to several score of hits by the
six pound and one pound guns of the
American fleet they were struck 43
times by the larger guns OF four inch
caiiber and over. The Colon, which
came outside the others and did com.
little fighting received but
three OF these hits. The other three
ships, which bore the brunt of the &C.
ton, received 40 among them. OF
those 40. ii, according to the report of
the board which examined into them,
we're by four inch guns, 10 by five
inch guns, four by either four OF five
inch (the board could not determine
which), while one was by either Eve
or six inch, IL were by eight inch and
two by IL inch guns. All of our big
ships, except one, had eight inch guns.
Only the Texas and Iowa had IL inch
guns. The Oregon and Indiana had
Ii 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 were On the Brooklyn.
Therefore, on the three Spanish
ships which did the bulk of the fight.
ing, out OF the 40 large caliber shots
that struck them IL certaiuly u.mo
from the Iowa, 10 certainly came
from the Brooklyn. four from either
the Iowa or the Brooklyn, and two
from either the Iowa or the Texas.
or the three which struck the Colon
two were FIVE inch, and must have
come from the Brooklyn, and one Was
either five inch or . six inch. It
must be remembered that the four and
five inch guns were the only quick
firers above six Founders in our fleet,
and they were not only much more
rapid, but much more surely handled
than were the larger and slower.
"The damage or loss to the Ameri.
can vessels we're 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
moro than twofold material superiority
over the Spanish ships. and the differ
ence in the handling Of their guns
and their engines was even greater
We have just cause to be proud Of the
vigilance and instant readiness our
ships displayed and the workmsnliks
efficiency with which they are handed.
The most striking act was that of the
Gloucester. . converted yacht. which
her commander. Wainwright, pushed
into the fight through hail OF pro.
jectiles, any one Of which wonld have
sunk her. in order that he might do
bis part in destroying the two torpedo
boats, each possessing far more than
his own offensive power.
From the statements Of the cap.
tains to the officials Of the department,
and the testimony before the court of
inquiry, the fight can be plotted with
absolute certainty in its important
outlines, though there is conflicts Is
to minor points. When tho four
Spanish cruisers came out Of the har-
Dor the New York had left her posi-
ton in the blockading lines 40 or As
minutes before. She had hoisted the
signal Disregard the movements of
the Commander-in-chief,' but had not
ho:sted the signal to the second in
command to take charge. which, as ap-
pears by the signal book, was some
times but not always used when the
commander was transferred. As soon
as the engagement began. the New
York 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 latter were from the Brooklyn.
which was the westernmost Of the
line.
As soon as the Spanish ships ap-
peared the five big American block.
aders started in to intercept them. in
accordance with the standing orders Of
Admiral Sampson.
"After the first move each acted
purely on his own initiative. For