Battle of Manila Bay The Battle of Manila Bay took place on 1 May 1898 , during the Spanish - American War . The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo . The battle took place in Manila Bay in the Philippines , and was the first major engagement of the Spanish - American War . The battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and marks the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history . Prelude . Americans living on the West Coast of the United States feared a Spanish attack at the outbreak of the Spanish - American War . Only a few U . S . Navy warships , led by the U . S . S . Olympia , stood between them and a powerful Spanish fleet . Admiral Montojo , a career Spanish naval officer who had been dispatched rapidly to the Philippines , was equipped with a variety of obsolete vessels . Efforts to strengthen his position amounted to little . The Spanish bureaucracy knew they could not win a war and saw resistance as little more than a face - saving exercise . Administration actions worked against the effort , sending explosives meant for naval mine s to civilian construction companies while the Spanish fleet in Manila was seriously undermanned by inexperienced sailors who had not received any training for over a year . Reinforcements promised from Madrid resulted in only two poorly - armored scout cruiser s being sent while at the same time the authorities transferred a squadron from the Manila fleet under Admiral Pascual Cervera to reinforce the Caribbean . Montojo compounded his difficulties by placing his ships outside the range of Spanish coastal artillery ( which might have evened the odds ) and choosing a relatively shallow anchorage . His intent seems to have been to spare Manila from bombardment and to allow any survivors of his fleet to swim to safety . The harbor was protected by six shore batteries and three fort s whose fire during the battle proved to be ineffective . Only Fort San Antonio Abad had guns with enough range to reach the American fleet , but Dewey never came within their range during the battle . Battle . At 7 p . m . on 30 April , Montojo was informed that Dewey ' s ships had been seen in Subic Bay that morning . As Manila Bay was considered unnavigable at night by foreigners , Montojo expected an attack the following morning . The American Consul in Manila , however , had provided Dewey with detailed information on the state of the Spanish defenses and the lack of preparedness of the Spanish fleet , prompting him to enter the bay immediately . At midnight Dewey , aboard the protected cruiser USS " Olympia " , led his squadron into Manila Bay . Passing the entrance , two Spanish mines exploded but were ineffective as they were well below the draft of any of the ships due to the depth of the water . Inside the bay , ships normally used the north channel between Corregidor Island and the northern coast and this was the only channel mined . Dewey instead used the unmined south channel between El Fraile and Caballo Islands . The El Fraile battery fired a few rounds but the range was too great . The " McCulloch " , " Nanshan " and " Zafiro " were now detached from the line and took no further part in the fighting . At 5 : 15 a . m . on 1 May , the squadron was off Manila and the Cavite battery fired ranging shots . The shore batteries and Spanish fleet then opened fire but all the shells fell short as the fleet was still out of range . At 5 : 41 with the now famous phrase , " You may fire when ready , Gridley , " the " Olympia ' s " captain was instructed to begin the destruction of the Spanish flotilla . The U . S . squadron swung in front of the Spanish ships and forts in line ahead , firing their port guns . They then turned and passed back , firing their starboard guns . This process was repeated five times , each time closing the range from 5 , 000 yards to 2 , 000 yards . The Spanish forces had been alerted , and most were ready for action , but they were heavily outgunned . Eight Spanish ships , the land batteries , and the forts returned fire for two and a half hours although the range was too great for the guns on shore . Five other small Spanish ships were not engaged . Montojo accepted that his cause was hopeless and ordered his ships to ram the enemy if possible . He then slipped the " Cristina ’ s " cables and charged . Much of the American fleet ' s fire was then directed at her and she was shot to pieces . Of the crew of 400 , more than 200 , including Montojo , were casualties and only two men remained who were able to man her guns . The ship managed to return to shore and Montojo ordered it to be scuttled . The " Castilla " , which only had guns on the port side , had her forward cable shot away causing her to swing about , presenting her weaponless starboard side . The captain then ordered her sunk and abandoned . The " Ulloa " was hit by a shell at the waterline that killed her captain and disabled half the crew . The " Luzon " had three guns out of action but was otherwise unharmed . The " Duero " lost an engine and had only one gun left able to fire . At 7 : 45 a . m . , after Captain Gridley messaged Dewey that only 15 rounds of 5 " ammunition remained per gun , he ordered an immediate withdrawal . To preserve morale , he informed the crews that the halt in the battle was to allow the crews to have breakfast . According to an observer on the " Olympia " , " At least three of his ( Spanish ) ships had broken into flames but so had one of ours . These fires had all been put out without apparent injury to the ships . Generally speaking , nothing of great importance had occurred to show that we had seriously injured any Spanish vessel " . Montojo took the opportunity to now move his remaining ships into Bacoor Bay where they were ordered to resist for as long as possible . A captains ' conference on the " Olympia " revealed little damage and no men killed . It was discovered that the original ammunition message had been garbled - instead of only 15 rounds of ammunition per gun remaining , the message had meant to say only 15 rounds of ammunition per gun had been expended . During the conference reports arrived that sounds of exploding ammunition had been heard and fires sighted on the " Cristina " and " Castilla " . At 10 : 40 AM action was resumed but the Spanish offered little resistance and Montojo issued orders for the remaining ships to be scuttled and the breechblock s of their guns taken ashore . The " Olympia " , " Baltimore " and " Boston " then fired on the Sangley Point battery putting it out of action and followed up by sinking the " Ulloa " . The " Concord " fired on the transport " Mindanao " , whose crew immediately abandoned ship . The " Petrel " fired on the government offices next to the arsenal and a white flag was raised over the building after which all firing ceased . The Spanish colors were struck at 12 : 40 PM . According to American sources , Dewey won the battle with seven men very slightly wounded , a total of nine injured , and only a single fatality among his crew : Francis B . Randall , Chief Engineer on the " McCulloch " , from a heart attack . On the other hand , the Spanish naval historian Agustín Ramón Rodríguez González suggests that Dewey suffered heavier losses , though still much lower than those of the Spanish squadron . Rodríguez notes that Spanish officials estimated the American casualties at 13 crewmen killed and more than 30 wounded based on reliable information collected by the Spanish consulate in Hong Kong . According to Rodríguez , Dewey may have concealed the deaths and injuries by including the numbers amongst the 155 men who reportedly deserted during the campaign . As most of the low - ranked crewmen were not American citizens ( with many of them being of Asiatic origin ) , this would have been easy to do . Subsequent action . A Spanish attempt to attack Dewey with the naval task force known as Camara ' s Flying Relief Column came to naught , and the naval war in the Philippines devolved into a series of torpedo boat hit - and - run attacks for the rest of the campaign . While the Spanish scored several hits , there were no American fatalities directly attributable to Spanish gunfire . On 2 May , Dewey landed a force of Marines at Cavite . They completed the destruction of the Spanish fleet and batteries and established a guard for the protection of the Spanish hospitals . The resistance of the forts was weak . The " Olympia " turned a few guns on the Cavite arsenal , detonating its magazine , and ending the fire from the Spanish batteries . Aftermath . In recognition of George Dewey ' s leadership during the Battle of Manila Bay a special medal known as the Dewey Medal was presented to the officers and sailors under Admiral Dewey ' s command . Dewey was later honored with promotion to the special rank of Admiral of the Navy ; a rank that no one has held before or since in the United States Navy . Building on his popularity , Dewey briefly ran for president in 1900 , but withdrew and endorsed William McKinley , the incumbent , who won . Dewey ' s flagship , the " Olympia " , was preserved as a museum ship in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , at the Independence Seaport Museum ( formerly the Philadelphia Maritime Museum ) . However , in 2011 the Independence Seaport Museum launched an effort to identify new stewards for the Cruiser and announced that the Cruiser will be scrapped or scuttled unless a new owner can be found . Order of battle . United States . Engaged Vessels : Despite the superiority of the American artillery , the success rate of their guns was minimal , a total of 5 , 859 shells were expended during the battle . Excluding shells fired at land targets and the unengaged vessels , only 145 hit the seven Spanish engaged vessels . The " Reina Cristina " and " Castilla " suffered 81 hits between them , the " Don Antonio de Ulloa " was hit 33 times , the " Don Juan de Austria " 13 , the " Marques del Duero " 10 , the " Isla de Cuba " five and the " Isla de Luzón " was hit three times . Unengaged vessels : Spain . Engaged Vessels : Engaged vessels ranged in size from 5870 tons ( " Olympia " ) to 492 tons ( " Marques del Duero " ) . Unengaged Vessels : The Spanish vessels had 19 torpedo tubes between them but no serviceable torpedoes . Shore Defenses The batteries were supplemented with the guns removed from Montojo ' s fleet . The Corregidore , Caballo and El Fraile batteries had a combined total of 17 guns . Dispatches between Dewey and the Secretary of the Navy . Multiple dispatches were exchanged between Dewey and John D . Long , Secretary of the Navy , immediately prior to , and following , the Naval Battle of Manila Bay . One dispatch notified Dewey of his promotion to the acting grade of Rear Admiral : HONGKONG , May 7 , 1898 . ( Manila , May 1 . ) SECRETARY OF THE NAVY , Washington : The squadron arrived a Manila at daybreak this morning . Immediately engaged enemy and destroyed the following Spanish vessels : Reina Christina , Castilla , Don Antonio de Biloa , Don Juan de Austria , Isla de Luzon , Isla de Cuba , General Lezo , Marquis del Duaro , El Curreo , Velasco , one transport , Isla de Mandano , water battery at Cavite . I shall destroy Cavite arsenal dispensatory . The squadron is uninjured . Few men were slightly wounded . I request the Department will send immediately from San Francisco fast steamer with ammunition . The only means of telegraphing is to the American consul at Hongkong . DEWEY . HONGKONG , May 7 , 1898 . ( Cavite , May 4 . ) SECRETARY OF THE NAVY , Washington : I have taken possession of the naval station at Cavite , Philippine Islands , and destroyed its fortifications . Have destroyed fortifications bay entrance , paroling garrison . Have cut cable to main land . I control bay completely and can take city at any time , but I have not sufficient men to hold . The squadron excellent health and spirits . The Spanish loss not fully known ; very heavy ; 150 killed , including captain , on Reina Cristina , alone . I am assisting and protecting Spanish sick and wounded , 250 in number , in this hospital , within our lines . Will ammunition be sent ? I request answer without delay . I can supply squadron coal and provisions for a long period . Much excitement at Manila . Scarcity of provisions on account of not having economized stores . Will protect foreign residents . DEWEY . WASHINGTON , May 7 , 1898 . DEWEY ( care American consul ) , Hongkong : The President , in the name of the American people , thanks you and your officers and men for your splendid achievement and overwhelming victory . In recognition he has appointed you acting rear admiral , and will recommend a vote of thanks to you by Congress as a foundation for further promotion . The " Charleston " will leave at once with what ammunition she can carry . Pacific Mail Steamship Company steamer " Pekin " will follow with ammunition and supplies . Will take troops unless you telegraph otherwise . How many will you require ? LONG .