Admiral Sampson's Report to the Secretary of the Navy: Cristobal Colon and Brooklyn
Since all of the above-mentioned work was done so well, it is difficult to discriminate in praise. The object of the blockade of Cervera's squadron was fully accomplished, and each individual bore well his part in it -- the Commodore in command on the second division, the captains of ships, their officers and men. The fire of the battle-ships was powerful and destructive, and the resistance of the Spanish squadron was, in great part, broken almost before they had got beyond the range of their own forts. The fine speed of the Oregon enabled her to take a front position in the chase, and the Cristobal Colon did not give up until the Oregon had thrown a 13-inch shell beyond her. This performance adds to the already brilliant record of this fine battle-ship, and speaks highly of the skill and care with which her admirable efficiency has been maintained during a service unprecedented in the history of vessels of her class. The Brooklyn's westerly blockading position gave her an advantage in the chase, which she maintained to the end, and she employed her fine battery with telling effect. The Texas and the New York were gaining on the chase during the last hour, and, had any accident befallen the Brooklyn or the Oregon, would have speedily overhauled the Cristobal Colon. From the moment the Spanish vessel exhausted her first burst of speed, the result was never in doubt. She fell, in fact, far below what might reasonably have been expected of her. Careful measurements of time and distance give her an average speed -- from the time she cleared the harbor mouth until the time she was run on shore at Rio Tarquino -- of 13.7 knots. Neither the New York nor the Brooklyn stopped to couple up their forward engines, but ran out the chase with one pair, getting steam, of course, as rapidly as possible for all boilers. To stop to couple up the forward engines would have meant a delay of fifteen minutes -- or four miles in the chase.
Several of the pursuing ships were struck, the Brooklyn more often than the others, but very slight material injury was done, the greatest being aboard the Iowa. Our loss was one man killed and one wounded, both on the Brooklyn. It is difficult to explain this immunity from loss of life or injury to ships in a combat with modern vessels of the best type, but Spanish gunnery is poor, at the best, and the superior weight and accuracy of our fire speedily drove the men from their guns and silenced their fire. This is borne out by the statements of prisoners and by observation. The Spanish vessels, as they dashed out of the harbor, were covered with the smoke from their own guns, but this speedily diminished in volume and soon almost disappeared. The fire from the rapid-fire batteries of the battle-ships appears to have been remarkably destructive. An examination of the stranded vessels shows that the Almirante Oquendo, especially, had suffered terribly from this fire. Her sides are everywhere pierced, and her decks are strewn with the charred remains of those who had fallen.
The reports of Commodore W. S. Schley and of the commanding officers are enclosed.
A board appointed by me for the purpose several days ago has made a critical examination of the stranded vessels, both with a view of reporting upon the result of our fire and the military features involved, and of reporting upon the chance of saving any of them and of wrecking the remainder. The report of the board will be speedily forwarded.
Very respectfully,
W. T. SAMPSON,
Rear-Admiral United States Navy, Commander-in-Chief
United States Naval Force, North Atlantic Station.
To THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, NAVY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C.
The following account of the battle-ship Oregon's remarkable voyage around Cape Horn was given by the vessel's chief engineer.