The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-12-20
afTLESH|P OREGON IS
! BUILT FOR BUSINESS
CONTINUED from page IL

The great battleship Oregon is the
most famous vessel of the United
States navy today. Her voyage around
the Horn at the outbreak of the war
with Spain, when she covered 1850
knots and arrived at her destination
in perfect condition, and fit to. go into
battle without a days delay, was the
most remarkable voyage in the history
of battleships, and the part that she
bore in the battle of July 3, 1898, off
Santiago, is now historic. The trip
from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast
has been approached only by her own
return trip from New York to Manila,
via Cape Horn, a distance of 10000
nautical miles, arriving, as Admiral
Dewey cabled, lin fit condition for any
duty"
The Oregon was locked at the Puget
Sound Naval Station on January 4.
1898, and, having had the usual dock
ing repairs made, was fioated on Feb
ruary 18th, the day on which news
came of the blowing up of the battle
Z ship Maine in Havana harbor the night
before.
When it became evident that war
was likely to be the outcome of the
Cuban trouble, the Oregon was ordered
to the Atlantic. to add it's great
strength to Admiral SIMPSONS fleet.
and from the time that the signal of
Ahead, full speed" was received at
$50 a. m. on March 9Th until $3.50 p. m.
on May oath, when the engines were
stopped and the Oregon anchored off
Jupiter Inlet, Fla, her remarkable ma
chinery, cared for and manipulated by
an engineer department whose perfect
organization and rare ability stand
pre-eminent, worked without seri-
Gus casualty. The history of this voy-
age is a story of ceaseless vigil and
painstaking care on the part of the en-
gineer personnel to maintain the eff
cheney of the motive machinery, and on
the part of the staff, headed by the
gallant Captain Charles E. Clark, to
insure the safety of the great vessel in
that perilous time.
Life below the protective deck of the
Oregon after March g. 1898, was lie
of hardship and toll, life spent in
heated atmosphere, where the roaring
of the furnaces and the leaping of the
massive engines might we'll have af-
forded some excuse for confusion. Not
SO, however. These men of the en-
gineer department where equal to the
emergency, and went about their duty
earnestly and with wonderful intel
ligence. The organization was perfect
and the execution of the task faultless.
On more than one occasion, when the
labors of the men before the furnaces
seemed to them to go for naught, and
they felt all but discouraged because
the steam would not "go up" the en-
gineer officers, discarding. their uni
forms, jumped in among them, fed the
furnaces with their own hands, and
by force of example so encouraged the
firemen that with cheers they redou-
bled their efforts, and the great ship
sped through the water at swifter
pace. This is the spirit that imbued
the men of the Oregon-engineers.
staff and crew-and this the work that
brought to successful end the most
remarkable run ever made by a bait
tleship.
Ordinarily, after run Of 14,500 knots,
a great many repairs would be found
absolutely necessary even to a cruiser,
and several weeks would not be con-
sidered too long a time to spend in re-
facilitating the engines and boilers of
any ship after such extraordinary SER
vice. But the Oregon coaled, rapidly
completed a few adjustments of ma
chinery, repaired few minor defects,
and at 1904 on the morning of May
18th, less than three days after her ar
rival steamed away from Key West
to add her strength to that of our fleet
off Santiago de Cuba. Her part in the
battle of July 8, 1898, which resulted
in the humiliation of the Spanish fleet
under Admiral Cervera, is now a mat
ter of history, and too fresh in the
minds of Americans to need repetition.
But if any further evidence is needed
than that already given of the quail
ties of the Oregon, and of her person.
mel, the following appropriate quota
tons from the official report of Ad-
mira1 Sampson on the battle of July
Sd will undoubtedly furnish it:
THE fine speed of the Oregon enabled
her to take a front position in the
chase and the Cristobal Colon did not
give up until the Oregon had thrown
thirteen-inch shell beyond her. This
performance adds to the already bril-
liant career of this fine battleship, and
speaks highly of the skill and care with
which her admirable efficiency has been
maintained during q service unprece-
denied in the history of fighting vessels
of her class"
The Oregon was launched from the
Union Iron Works, October 26, 1893, the
first battleship ever built in California,
and was commissioned July Is, 1896. In
length she is 34S feet; SO feet inches
beam, 25 feet Az inches draft; displace-
ment 1900 tons. Her contract speed
was sixteen knots, which she exceeded
almost a full knot on her trial trip.
Her main battery consists of four -
inch, eight S-inch and four 6-inch