The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-07
FLEET SAILS
 FOR RUN HOME
 ~-e.--s sf Departure from Gibraltar
 Brilliant. LAST LAP OF GREAT VOYAGE Ships Now on Way to Hampton
 Roads.
 Eereisn vessels salute Asa sissai Cordial Farewell Messages-- Aa- mira, sperry Directs msve-
 meat From Bridge. n
LAST LAP OF GREAT VOYAGE
sers.sn vessel. salute Asa sisss'

Gibraltar, Feb. 6--With the bands on board playing tfiome, Sweet Home the fleet of sixteen .battleshipsg under Rear Admiral sperry left Gibraltar at Ii o'clock this morning for Hampton Roads on the last lap of its famous around-the-world cruise of 42.ooo miles. One hour later the vessels were well clear of the land and steaming. west ward in double column formation at a speed of ten knots an hour. They will follow the southern route to Hampton Roads. Q distance of s.eeo miles and : about 1000 miles off the American coast they will be met and escorted home by the third squadron of. the Atlantic fleet under Rear Admiral Arnold. % #
 The weather conditions at the time of departure were glorious. Tie sky was without q cloud and there M&s just enough breeze to curl the crests -of the eunfiooded waves. Nothing could have surpassed the beauty of the marine pic. ture as the American armada weighed from the shadows of the tower rock Of Gibraltar and moved ouk into the sea. The difficult cpoFatioA of getting the t-s narr0wswar basin Of the port and under way, was accomplished with skin and per1ection of nianeuveriug and detail which won the Admiration of all the ;. foreign naval men who witnessed the proceedings critically from iahd and sea.
 sRsrty pn The nrsage.
 Admiral Sperry. directed the whole operatton from the after-bridg& of the Connecticut At half past eight o'clock the signal tosunnloor was given and the great chains holding the ships to the buoys were loosensd one by one until the vessels were held to their anchor- 9&e by only a single stand
 At s;se q stream pf muIti.c01bFed signal flags eu khe flakklIipa cola.- mpnicatsd flp pn.Aer @ aHf Aili ieer way to the GeorglRs the Nehsaafas ti,e esa Jeraey the Adna& zsiand 9nd tha virs @inlss 1gins ak the remr as fkn bs:siss. AZ the flags came flutterlng aown fiVe minutes slatAE the aesi64sefea BkEkfl l.- Hreed ieviat sAeik1ha 6s6Aoas ffay slowly ewuh& fhegr nuses iF 3sie Nlrtsks s non of tile breaches i'd tha hreakn kn3afsr
 Twisting and turning to fhe cianeIslr \ of engine gcngss they crepf out, inc Georgte ieadiHg the way with Llsu- on the bridge.
 Once on the outside. Rear Admiral Wainwrights division felI into form : ation and waiting for>fhe second and third groups. The second group con sisted of the Vermont. proudly flying the battle efiiciency" trophy at her fore; the Minneapolis, Kentucky. Ohio. and Kearsarge, and the third was com : posed of the Wisconsin, Kansas; Lou astana, Missouri and Illinois The three groups waited outside and al 1o:so the Connecticut. brousfN up the
 Although 1t is not customary to fire parting salutea. the Devonshife, the na9ship Of Bear Aduaffal Sir James Goodrich, R. N.. Admiral Supefintend- ent at Gibraltar, which had taken up 8 position at the eRtrance of theeharA Dor. hoisted and saluted the Amsricgn lag as the Connecticut played the English anthem. while the musicians on the foreign warshlps played the ~Star-spangled Banner.' as the respec- tive ensigns were dipped.
 sagnals of FaReweII.
 Admiral Goodrich and Admiral Lit- RtnoR of the Russian Navy signalled: 1:
 ''Good-bye; pleasant yoyage."E'
 Admiral sperry replied. iaconically:
 Then the Connections steamed ma 3estically along the line Of the waiting American vessels, took it's place at the head of the column and set the guide dag "hve of clubs. '' H.
 The fifteen other vessels wheeled gracefully in behind the Connecticut and with the black speed cones run up to the yard arms, the imposing ihi- pression, which was over three miles long, moved to the South.
 The alignment of~the ships iwaa per- feet and the sight was so impressive that the spectators. crowding to the terraces of the AlemadR and the Eu- m at tr1 oro lot1a tions of delight while the American passengers on two liners anchored close into shore burst into inyolun- tary cheers.
 For a distance of about twelve miles the fleet stood to the South. Then. be- ing clear of Cape Tarifa, the most southerly point Of 1t. and with noth- ing but the broad Atlantic between 1t and home, the flagship headed abrupt. iy to the westward and in Indian file the splendid fleet left the ancient pil- 1ards of Hercules behind and steamed ! th rough the straits and out to sea
 Looking from the rock of Gibraltar 4he water separating the ships seemed gradually to be obliterated as the dis tance increased until the sixteen hulls resembled long white line surmount- sd by a trailing plume of smoke.
 Suddenly, on Cape cparteIa, the line wavered and broke into. small parts.
 
 two parallel lines Instead of one. show ing that the fleet had assumed Its reg ular double cruising formation.
 The last glimpse of the warships was obtained at 1i57 this afternoon from the signal station on top of Gi- braltar, 1900 feet above sea level. The ships were then hull-doRn and mere speeis on the horizon. They were headed a little to tho south of west to reach the thlrty-ifth parallel which they intend to follow.
 The dispatch boat YanlIton. is 700 miles ahead of the fleet and 800 miles ahead of the suppiy ship Culgoa. which left here February l., The collier Ajax and the repair ship Panther will re- main here until tomorrow to clean up OddB and ends,
 Although no homeward bound pen pants were flying from the ships when they left here today, the insignia will blossom out on the way home andwhen aa1e vessels reach the mouth Of the Chesapeake pennants from f25 to iB0 feet long will be streaming from their main trucks. ~The ofsloers and men left here with Geelings of jubllRtion that their next port will be home. When the fleet yeaehes Hampton Roads # win have