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Dewey at Manila Bay: Olympia

Dewey turned to the Captain of The Olympia, and said, "If you are ready, Gridley, you may fire."

The American ships now formed in a half circle, swinging before the massed enemy. An eight-inch shell from The Olympia sped across the water toward the Spanish flagship. A little later on, the order to open with all the guns brought every ship into action, as the fleet moved forward in a graceful curve. A terrific fire from the Spanish fleet and forts was the answer, and the battle of Manila Bay had begun.

Again and again the great American battleships swept around, pouring a deadly fire into the Spanish vessels, coming each time nearer and doing more and more damage. In the midst of the action, the Spanish flagship, Reina Cristina, moved out to give battle to The Olympia.

Dewey concentrated all the fire of his whole fleet upon her. Amidst an awful raking of shells, the Spanish vessel halted, broken and torn, and turned to flee. She was hardly able to struggle back to her companions; two hundred and fifty of her crew lay dead or wounded upon her shattered decks.

Five times did the American fleet swing past the enemy, each time doing more deadly work than before. Then Dewey drew his fleet off to the opposite shore, to prepare for the final engagement. The foolish Spaniards thought he had withdrawn entirely, and cabled to Madrid that the battle was over, and that Dewey had retired to bury his dead. They were soon to find out otherwise.

The men ate breakfast, and then brought up fresh supplies of ammunition. The decks were cleaned, the guns examined, and at eleven o'clock came the order to continue the battle. Slowly the American fleet swung around in its half circle and began its destructive work. One by one the Spanish ships went down, until the whole fleet was utterly destroyed. In a few hours the battle of Manila Bay was over.

Admiral Montojo, the Spanish Commander, escaped by land to Manila, while Dewey was destroying the shore batteries with the unerring marksmanship of his gunners.

The victory was complete. The Spaniards lost every ship of their fleet, and six hundred and thirty-four men in killed and wounded. The American ships were not seriously damaged, not a man had been killed, and only eight had been wounded.

The Spanish rule of three and a half centuries in the Philippines was broken forever!