The National tribune., 1903-08-13

RSDAY, AUGUST 10, 1908,
! time of peace it should receive the same
attention that other problems do.
Z. The American fleet has in every re-
spect performed its tasks in front of San
tiago. The transport fleet was conveyed
to the places chosen by war ships. and the
landings We're effected under the same
protection. A systematic blockade had
been established, and in this connection
the main object. namely, the destruction
Of Cervera's fleet, was never lost sight Of
/ Thanks to the intelligent dispositions of
the Commander-in-Chef of the fleet and
the skill of the American officers and
crews. this object was attained with com
plete success. Incidentally the batteries
of the Moro, SOcapa, and Punta Gorda
were bombarded by the American fleet
and these bombardments offer so much
that is of interest and so may points of
discussion for naval officers that l shall
have to speak of them somewhat more at
length. How much has been said of these
commandments, How many times have the
batteries of the MORO and SOcapa been
placed out of action. the guns dismOunted
the Notifications leveled to the ground,
Batteries which did not even exist. as, for
instance, Nero Castle proper and Estrel-
In Battery, were said to have returned the
CALLING fire, the latter completely destroy
ed. the former nothing but a heap of ruins!
Such were the newspaper reports, of the
inaccuracy of which | had an opportunity
of convincing myself personally on the
scene of events. Unfortunately. l am not
in a position to state which of the Amer
lean ships did the firing. nor how many
projectiles were discharged in the different
commandments, nor the kind of prOjectiles
and the results as to hits. But on the
other hand l can give from personal OH
ServatiOn accurate statements as to the
condition of the Spanish batteries after
the surrender of Santiago, and as my own
observations have been supplemented by
reliable information from others who We're
also on the scene. am enabled to furnish
sufficient material to permit an estimate
of the actual conditions.
|
| Ca) Moro Castle proper, an Old fort,
consisting of heavy masonry standing close
to the waters edge east of the harbor en-
trance. was not armed at all. 1t was used
as barracks for the Spanish garrison.
The outside walls had suffered consider
ably from the commandments. the upper
in different places pieces had been shot
away. The inner walls showed large and
small shOt-holes made by shells of differ
ent calibers, the largest of 80 centimeters.
b) From the houses between the castle
and the lighthouse, about 200 meters dis
tant, nothing had been removed. Some of
them had been completely destroyed, 9th
ers more or less damaged. The houses
situated n little further back and lower
| down had sufFarpl I'M nrinc Tho lipbt-
house built of iron plates about % cent?
meters thick, had been pierced Mt the
front by several small-caiber shells, the
largest being of ID centimeters. The rear
wall had been blown out entirely.
(cJ About 100 meters east of the light
house is the new battery. situated about
63 meters. above the level of the sea.
The guns are standing on concrete fOun-
dations built into the ground, and fire
over a wall erected for protection in front
of them, consisting of wooden boxes filled
with cement. This protection is further
strengthened by sandbass placed in front
of it. Between each two guns wooden bar
rels filled with cement have been placed on
top Of the wall. The spaces between
them are partly filled with cement or sand
|
| In the battery itself only minor inju-
ries could be noted. The right-wing gun
had been upset by a shell, but none of the
other guns nor the cement protection had
received any injuries. A few projectiles
had struck into the ground in front of
the sand bags and destroyed a few of
them. Back of the battery was lying an
American 20-centimeter shell, which had
not been exploded. The base fuse had
| been removed.
| SOCAPA.
| like that at the Moro, on the highest
point of the ridge, about 400 meters west
of the entrance.
The five guns inSta He'd here are in n
straight line-the three 21-centimeter how
tiers in the left wing and the two 16-cent-
| imeter HOntOria naval guns in the right
wing. The composition of the battery is
about the same as that at the Moro, eX
| cept that there are no barrels on top of
the cement boxes at the 16-centimeter
guns, probably so as not to restrict the
angle of fire of these guns and because
they are protected by 3-centimeter
shield. Immediately back of the guns is
Il trench of little depth connecting the
gun positions with each other. The 16-
centimeter guns are separated from the
howitzers by broad traverse.
One of the howitzers had received a hit
| OF small callDer Ill tnc le1t SIDE OF the top
carriage, but without placing the gun out
of action. The shield of one of the 16-cen-
timeter guns had been pierced from below
by 15-centimeter projectile. and the car
riage had also been injured. so that the
gun became unserviceabe. No other dam
ages are noticeable in the guns. but at
different places shots had passed immedi-
ately in front of the guns and hit the gun
projections and sandbags.
| AS for the fire of the Spanish batteries,
| have read of but one case where Span
ish prOjectie hit an American ship. 1t
was in a fight with the Socapa battery
that the battleship Texas received a hit,
probably from one of the 16-centimeter
guns taken from the Reina Mercedes The
prOjectile struck the port side about 20 feet
abaft the bow and exploded, after pass
ing through a stanchion between decks,
killing one man and wounding six. The
American officer who took charge of the
battery at Moro Castle also told me the
| following amusing incident: There was
a bOmbardment of the Moro battery at
night, and one of the American ships was
| throwing her search light on the battery.
The Spanish answered the fire part of the
time. The ship with the search light was