Puerto Cabezas
Typical of the conditions that resulted in the deployment of a landing party was bandit activity on the east coast of Nicaragua. On 11, 12, and 13 April 1931, a group of about 150 bandits killed 18 foreigners, of whom several were Americans, and were closing in on the town of Puerto Cabezas. Upon the first warning of this activity, "Asheville", which had been at Cristobal, proceeded immediately to Puerto Cabezas, arriving there about midnight on 13 April; the bandits were only about five miles from the town. Commander Ward W. Waddell, "Asheville"s captain, showed excellent judgement and initiative by anchoring his ship close to the town's wharf and turning on his searchlights and training out his guns. "By common report," the Commander, Special Service Squadron, wrote later, "any further attempts of the bandits against Puerto Cabezas immediately ceased and the fear and alarm of the citizens were greatly allayed . . . "