Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-07-06
OLD Navy OF
'98 WAR fame
WILL BE SENT
IOSCRAP HEAP
After Having Served the Stars
and Stripes During Two
Wars, Famous Ships Go
to Navy Graveyard.

to Navy Graveyard.
Washington, July 5.-Decision OF
the Navy department to break up
and sell for junk or use for targets
II obsolete battleships marks the
passing of a feet of vessels long
identified with many of the most
glorious achievements of the new
American navy. They wrote many
bright pages into this country's ma
val history during their years OF
service and four of them have par
ticipated actively in two wars. The
doomed ships, including the famous
old Spanish-American war squadron
consisting of the Oregon, Iowa, In
diana and Massachusetts and the
more modern but hardly less famous
Kentucky, Kearsarge, Alabama. 1lli-
nois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri and
Maine composed one of the most,
Tiff not the most, powerful battleship
fleet in the world more than Is
years ago. 81
Foremost among the achieve
ments of these famous old fighting
craft is the part they played in the
Spanish-American war. The Ore
gon, which had been commissioned
at San Francisco in July, 1896, was
at Mare Island navy yard in 1898
when the message was flashed to
her commander that the United
States was at war with Spain. On
March E, 1898, the famous old ship
cleared the Golden Gate, bound for
! the West Indies, on what proved to
be the most epoch-making battle
ship voyage ever undertaken. With
decks stripped for action and gun
crews at their stations the Oregon
plowed around Cape Horn, up the
east coast of South America and
arrived at Key West on May 20
ready for action, having made the
| 14,000-mile voyage in IS cruising
days. Capt. c. E. Clark, the Ore.
CONS commanding officer, was or.
dered to take his ship to Santiago
! and there join the blockading squad
ron which was awaiting battle with
the Spanish fleet
In the meantime. the Iowa, Mas
sachusetts and Indiana, sister ships
of the Oregon, were attached to the
North Atlantic fleet and had al
ready arrived off Cuba, the Massa-
chusetts being part of the famous
flying squadron" under command
of Commodore Schley.
Oregon Runs Spanish Ship.
-1t 81,
throughout the world for her glori.
Gus and successful voyage to join
the American fleet in time for the
impending battle, gained greater
glory in the action off Santiago de
Cuba on Sunday, July 5, 1898. when
Spanish sea power was forever
humb1ed and the liberation of the
Philippines and Cuba assured. In
that historic sea fight, the Oregon
ran the Vizcaya, pride of the Span
ish fleet, ashore after Kidding the
craft with hits from her s and 49,
inch guns and then engaged in a
running fight with the Colon which
surrendered after being cut off from
the sea by the Oregon and forced
to head for the beach. A shot at
the Colon from one of the Oregon's
13-inch guns was the last shot fired
during the battle.
| Both the Indiana and the Iowa
participated in the battle at Sam
tiago, the Massachusetts, having
gone to Guantanamo to coal on the
day of the engagement. The crew
of the Massachusetts, much disap-
pointed at having missed the fight.
gained revenge the next night when
that vessel and the old battleship
Texas, engaged and sunk the Span
| ish cruiser Reina Mercedes as that
vessel attempted to escape from the
harbor at Santiago.
The Massachusetts, was the flag
ship of the naval vessels in charge
of conveying American troops from.
Cuba to Porto Rico for the Porto
Rican campaign. A few years ago
the Texas, later renamed the San
Marcos, was used as a target for
later battleships at Tangier Soand
in Chesapeake Bay.
| After the Spanish American war
the Oregon returned to the west
coast. where the glorious old ship,
then in the height of her fame, was
received with tremendous demon
STATIONS. She remained there on
duty with the Pacific fleet until a
decade ago. N1er usefulness gone,
she was placed in reserve commits
SIGN.
The Iowa. Massachusetts, and In
diana participated in the homecom-
ing of the victorious Atlantic fleet
after the Spanish-American war and
remained on duty in home waters
for many years After the Oregon
had Been placed in reserve the three
sister ships were for several years
used as training vessels and con-
veyed the midshipmen from the
Naval academy abroad each summer
for practice cruise. Finally thew
too were moored to the docks in
L ,.arIe - ~