A different ship, a different war

[Louis of PA]

Information

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[Gibbs505]

OK, what ship is that?

[Bob Womack]

That would be cruiser U.S.Olympia (C-6) from the Spanish-American War period. More HERE.

She was the first U.S. Navy ship to have a scuttlebutt.

Bob

[jon_norstog]

Louis,

I'd recognize her anywhere. That was Dewey's flagship the Olympia. You go below, there's all this woodwork, right? They ripped it all out and threw it over the side on the run from Hong Kong to Manila. Wood splinters are worse than shrapnel in a sea fight.

After the battle a German fleet showed up, harassed the American ships, refused to salute, landed supplies for the Spanish garrison, made runs at the American ships, etc. It was pretty tense. Dewey kept his cool, but didn't back down either. Eventually the Germans left.

The Olympia brought back the Unknown Soldier in 1921.

[Louis of PA]

This is an excellent web site if you wish to understand the importance of what was accomplished by the Olympia and its sister ships. It sounds like Dewey was liked and respected by his crew.

The site includes after action reports and letters from officers as well as surgeons and ratings. They are very exciting to read, far better than any fiction.

One report that is especially gripping to read; a sailor reports that, when the Spanish admiral came aboard the Olympia to formally surrender, the entire crew have him rousing cheers as a tribute to the extraordinary bravery of him and his men, and he saw that admiral weep.

One sailor had served earlier on a whaler, later joined the Union Army and fought at Challencelorsville and Gettysburg. He later rejoined the Navy.

The site provides all the specs for the ship, including the cost, $1,796,000. Today that would not even cover the cost of a single propeller for a major warship

Regards

Louis of PA

Manila Bay

From that site...

The Battle of Manila Bay was one of two major American naval victories in the Spanish-American War, both of which were very decisive, and, in hindsight, very one-sided. The Battle of Manila Bay occurred on the morning of May 1, 1898, only days after war had been declared between Spain and the United States.

The battle is notable for several reasons. First, it was a complete and final victory, ending any threat from the Spanish naval forces involved. All major Spanish ships were destroyed or captured, without any significant damage occurring to the American Forces.

Secondly, technically no Americans lost their lives in the battle (two American deaths did indirectly occur which may be attributable to the battle), though the lives of many Spaniards were lost. The result is that Americans look at the victory as a "bloodless" battle, whereas the Spanish obviously do not.

Thirdly, the American attack was very daring and dangerous, based on what the Americans knew at the time, but not as risky when looked at in hindsight. Many world powers, who were not aware of the American naval build-up over the past decade and a half, considered the United States Asiatic Squadron to be little or no threat to the Spanish naval forces.

The Americans also over-rated the Spanish navy's ability and determination to fight, and many authorities considered the fleet to be sailing into a veritable deathtrap. In addition to the naval forces, many Spanish gun batteries existed in the fortifications around Manila Bay. These guns alone should have been enough armament to destroy the American squadron.

Lastly, the American Asiatic Squadron was not sufficiently supplied with ammunition for wartime service and the nearest site for resupply was California, seven thousand miles away!

By far, the most notable aspect of the battle was that, as a result of this battle, the United States became a recognized world power overnight.

The U.S. Navy had been a subject of derision internationally for years. The United States had begun to change that with the advent of its new steel navy, but, in a time when a country's military was rated according to the strength of its navy, this was the first time that the ability of both the U.S. warships and their well-trained crews were shown to be an important world force.

The Americans finally spotted the Spanish vessels in their Cavite anchorage between Sangley Point and Las Pinas. At 5:15 a.m. the guns of the Cavite fortifications and the Spanish fleet opened fire.

Dewey had his ships hold their fire until 5:40 A.M. Then, standing on the vessel's open bridge, he quietly told the OLYMPIA's captain, "You may fire when ready, Gridley." The OLYMPIA's forward eight inch turret fired. The other ships of the column followed suit. The Americans kept the Spanish vessels off their port bow during their initial attack, since this allowed the maximum number of guns on each ship to fire.

Though it was not obvious to the Americans, who noted that the damage to the Spanish vessels must not have been too great since the fire from their vessels did not slacken, destruction came quickly to the Spanish fleet. Montojo commented that the first three ships seemed to direct their fire mainly on his flagship, REINA CRISTINA. Soon a shot hit her forecastle, put the crews of four rapid fire guns out of action, shattering the mast, and injuring the helmsman, who had to be replaced. Another shell set flew into the vessel's orlop deck, starting a fire which was rapidly put under control.

The American ships came in as close as they thought the depth of the water would allow, first passing the Spanish position from west to east, and then countermarching east to west. Five passes were made along the two and a half mile course by the Asiatic Squadron at a speed of six to eight knots.

See that web site for rest of story, along with other first-hand reports.

[jon_norstog]

Two of the fighting ships of the Spanish American War were built at Union Iron Works in San Francisco; the cruiser Olympia and the battleship Oregon, which was in the thick of the fighting when Cervera's fleet was destroyed outside Santiago de Cuba, July 3, 1898. A third UIW capital ship was the light cruiser Chitose of the Japanese Navy.

The CHitose, which looked like a longer, leaner version of the Olympia, had 2 x 8" guns instead of the Olympia's 4 guns in two turrets. Like the Olympia, Chitose's 5" guns were in barbettes on the gun deck. Chitose was in the fleet that fought the Russians at Tsushima. SHe was also part of Japanese-Anglo force that defeated the Germans at Tsingtao in 1914.

the Oregon at Santiago

The Oregon and the Brooklyn were in the lead, chasing Cervera's capital ships as they broke out of Santiago harbor and made their run to the west. The Spanish ships were faster and had a headstart, but lost time following the coastline. The range was too great for the Brooklyn's 8" guns, it was Oregon's 13" guns that really did the job, at least in the beginning of the engagement. Once the spanish ships hAD taken some damage, Brooklyn closed in, then Texas and Iowa caught up. It was all over by the time Admiral Sampson and the New York arrived.

Union Iron Works is still in business.

[Bert]

The engine room scenes in the movie "THE SAND PEBBLES" were filmed on the Olympia.

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

Of course you heard of the ATF agent who wanted the breech blocks on the main battery of the TEXAS welded up because the guns would still function? (I wonder how he liked being assigned to a Florida swamp?)