OCR Text |
Show V llltwM vAM K:ll (CooJi-lcM 1012 hr th. New Tork ,! ftSe which twenty-three jcars ? iXft " fvl sT,adron' made the nail na-il iSfr lion thrill with pride on'y 1 ; tlirr-o lemam nnoat m ilif, ; Kcivice of tl'o Untied' ,1 Atite The famous cruise of the "white j squadron' to European ports was regard-; regard-; H ns .n lokon that thp United Staler i! had f-'ird herself as r nnTal Power i: , Tot nhen war wn? declared ngaic3t j l Spain, nine years nfter the cniisc, bo i s- out of tlptc were tbsc proud fitchtlnj; -raft t hi t o -1 oue of them, the P.oston, i hilpnd to smah Montojo'e fleet at Manila, 't and not n single vessel of the "white k i sqnndron" was actually engaged against Ccrvcra nt .Santinjjo. The Boston has plnce been condemned but was reinstated .' and i. at prcscrit doin; jrvlce in Fuget Sound The Chicago, one of the first of "thi? , ' flew naTy," is ekibg out the last davq of her service with the Ma68achusells Xnral Militia She will soon be con- i denincd and sold at auction, iccordinc to ': i i aavnl authorities. Ad interesting qnearlon h, 'U'bat be J '' comes of thes old vessels? 'Most of them arc sold at public auction by the Navy Department, and, considering the purchase ; or contract prices, they sel) for a eour. Many at them arc bonjht by large and 1 wealthy junk dealers, who cither refit them I to sell to foreign navies or break them up 4 for the copper rivets and olher metal work and eHI the wood for kindling. Occasionally Oc-casionally the old wooden vessels hare J beams or fittings which may be -oW to :' wealthy men for use in building houses. i The Stiletto, which was the first torpedo boat of "tho new navy," created a great ,' j Maution in her day. She was bnUt of Food by the Hcrrc-ihoffs, of Bristol, B. L, at a cost to the government of 25,000, lad Bhe wu3 recently told at auction for 377. The Detroit's Action in Brazil. The last ttvo batches of vessels dIvpoped of included the cruiser Detroit, the gnn-Wt gnn-Wt Bennington, the old sloop of war Iroquois, Iro-quois, th converted yachts Hornet and I ; BIrcn and the torpedo boats Winlo.w and j Stiletto. j 1 The cruiaer Detroit, one of the ''white m qnadrou" which cost when built $012,500, T as purchased from the sovcrntnent by ' the estate of Lewis Luckenbach for 320,-; 320,-; I 000. It wns the Detroit, a I-ffmy compared com-pared with n modern armored croiser, ; which steamed alone into the haihor of ' ' Rio Janeiro in 1SQ-J and overawed the Brazilian men of wnr aud the fortifica-;. fortifica-;. tions in the harbor. Early in that year the insurrection in Brazil had gained such - i headway that foreign shipping in tho ; harbor of Rio was ceriously menaced. v"ej8cl? of all nation lay nt their plcra andcr the Brar.ihun guns and wero not ; llowed to doparr. Tliis was the situ.i-! situ.i-! hu- which contronled Hear Admiral A. ; E. K. Becham when he arrived outsldo ihc lmrhor with s division of the ortli i A.tlar.tic squadron. IThr Brazilian authoritieH paid no nttca tion to Rear Admiral Ucnham's reqr.ar Uiai tho American merchant vessels b( iilowcdto depart irom th port, and r t : J Branson's acctptanoo of tho challenge showed that tho Americana meant bnsi ness and the Brarllians complied with Rear Admiral Benham'a requesL The sturdy little vessel which acquitted herself so well at IUo Janeiro Is bow lying at a pier at the foot of Twenty-rixtn street, in Brooklyn. Hr owner 1t not decided what tlwy will do with her. It wn at first Intended to fit her for passenger passen-ger Bcrrice, but this Idea has bten abandoned, aban-doned, and the Detroit will probably find her wny Into the navy of some second or third class Power. In Eric Basin, surrounded by defunct tramp steamshipo and decaying relics of the sailing Tessel days, lies the little torpedo tor-pedo boat Winslovr, whose crew covered themselves with glory during the Spanish-American Spanish-American war. The Winslow was lying off Caidenas in the licet which was maintaining a blockade of the Cuban coast In 1SDS. In the afternoon after-noon of May 9 it became known that several sev-eral Spanish ffiinboats were lyiDg at piers 5n the harbor. It was the problem of the Americans to draw those .Ye.wls out for a fisht. So shallow was the water of Car-denns Car-denns Harbor and so narrow the channel that so long as the Spaniards remained at (their piers they were safe. J "Under Lieutenant Bernadou, the little 1 Winslow dashed across the shoals to with-,in with-,in a mile of the town and opened fire with 'her 1-poandera This fire was rather ineffective in-effective and the Winslow was practically uat'lfs, agaluat the shoie batteries, but she did exasperate tho Spaniards so that ,oac of the gunboats bteauied against her. Lieutenant Bernadou retreated ami led !the gnnboat on in pursuit, ,! Winslow's Heroic Action. l. The Machias, one of the vessels snp- porting the Winslow, planted n six ound iltheli en tke Spaniard at kof range, and the gunboat earned back to her pier C-. SZS) r' L fliv On the nftcmoon f May 11 the Winslow,' K&tt'?$& ) JlVnxl leading the way; tc? Wilmington and the tip H vJti "5W2?J revenue cutter Hudson Bounded a chan- j; "U JlsLs ' J0Fdv&frF nel which was not often UBed and steamed V ' " im Into tho Harbor of Cardenas. - J Within a mile and a half of tho piers ' '!"" jnk" W0?M;-Wflf -7fi M0&A? A',' f!;'i'-Sl5rf Pill The Converted Yat,M Hornet the Wilmington came to a stop and Com raandcr Todd ordered the Wini.low to run in and cut out oue of the Spanish gunboats gun-boats which wero then ljing in the harbor. har-bor. Ivicutenant Bernadou steered his little craft between two lines of bobbing red buoys which it was HUpposed mnrUed a channel, but he soon learned that they were range fixers for a masked battery to tho eaat of the town. The second shot from this battery, R three inch shell, crashed into the Wlus-low, Wlus-low, whote steel sides were not thick-enough thick-enough to resist a Manser bullet, wrecked her steering gear and left her helpIcBs. The Winslow's 3-ponnder roared In " reply to the Spanish tire. A shot tore I up a preat steel splinter from the decfc I of 'the torpedo boat, and the etwl buned itself in Lieutenant Bernadt u's groin. ITe bound n towel arpund It, using n one pound ;hell to make a tourniquet, and stargered aft to got the hand steering gear la commlsKion. Before he reached It a 6hot had carriad that away, and a man from below reported re-ported one boiler pierced and one engine wrecked. The damaged. boiler and tngine were disconnected and the QooJ of sttam stopped. Lieutenant Bernadou know that to change his jwaltion however slightly would tiecessltiile tho Spaniards changing their range. An engineer .ippearad oi deck and reported: "Ono engine and one boiler ready for service, sir." .- "Crowd her all you can 1" shouted thi Untenant. "fllWf. Without steering gear, the vewel gradually gradu-ally turned in. an arc, seeing which Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Bernadou stationed Ensign Worth Baglcy at tho hatch above the engine room and began working the vessel forward for-ward and back. By this time the Wilmington Wil-mington was sending a hail of four-inch shells into the Spanish batteries A Spanish shell 6truck the deck of the Winslow, exploded against a horse reel near Ensign Bagley, who was passing orders to the engine room, and he stag gored forward to the signal mast ami there fell dcr.d. i a result the Detroit, commanded by Cap- N y , -. -. J , 'V-.J i'1pXA '(am UronioD. was ordered into the hnr- U. S. Cruiser BostonT' j ,. . j-rf ;4d&& Hit' bor to liberate the detained vessels. y i 'j "'3t M-'4? ' ' Sffi ? Straight toward the piers where the shinsj . ",., ' ,M ' - y.. 'y''' ''i' -: ' f i i'''' -'W- M&sX ere detained the little Detroit steamed-1 - -M v.. V - 'i, 'J' ', ' " i" ' ffi -f T"' Before l.c leached her destination the'l ' . j ffiW'tp ", 1 V"' ' M4P ;I'"-W " l "'' .insurgents fired upon hor. but the Detroit j ' - ? " - Mj.' 'f--' r W& &. . Sj.$S&, Fi i- I kept sleadi'iy on her way. returning the - rvv , &''. MS'V" '' i ' , JnliyWra "0?' I xilian mn of war looked menacing, but J ' Wlt0X'V ' V the did not use their gun, Captain ? . , 3&ft The Detroit as She Appears To-Day if-Fi "::' S Tlic Chicstjo, Once of the WiKte Squadron' y . and the first American vessel of her class, with the exception of the America, winch was ghen to Franco before she was launched. , The Independence was built In Boston and launched there in 1S14, As the flagship flag-ship of Commodore Balnbridge. she wns the first ship of the line to cury'lhe d e Independence, Century Old War Ship " Er Then came the Hudson, a mere tugboat in size and construction, but Captain Newcomb steamed boldly into the fire zone and Lieutenant II. Scott threw a line to Ibc Winslow, The line parteo once, cut by n shot, but the Hudson made fast again, aloneside the Winslow this time, and towed her to safety while the Wilmington demolished demol-ished the bnttories und the gunboats During Dur-ing the action the town was set on fire. Ensign Eagley nnd three other men were killed on board the Winslow, being the ' first Americans to lose their lives in battle during the nar with Spnln. It is this little Tartar of a vessel which has been bought by the Olsen Iron Company Com-pany for 52,250 and is now lying In Eric Basin. The proud little torpedo boat is a forlorn sight in her present circumstuncra when one remenitwrs what she has scn. but It is probable that she will be completely com-pletely overhauled and sold to some other uavy, where she may see actlre service and even stand up under fire once more. The Bennington, another of the old white equadrou, was sold to a sugar firm and is now doing duty in Honolulu as a storage ship for molasses. The Hist and Hornet, converted jachts which did excellent service In the war with Syain, hAve passed from the navy. On June 30, 1S0S. while the two vessels were reconnoitring between Cape Cru. and Manranlllo, they became engaged with bf.ore batteries and infantry. The Hornet Hor-net wns disabled when her main steam pipe was cut, but she wn. towed to safety by the Wompatuck. On July IS they made another attack on Manzanillo and! destroyed, several Spaninh gunboats. About two years ago tho Hornet was purchased In New Ot leans by agents of Honduian revolutionists, but the United States authorities prevented her from taking tak-ing pnrt in the filibustering expedition for whih she was intended The Hist has been sold to a junk concorn, which will probably refit her. One of the most interesting of the ves-j scls recently pnt out of commission by the Navy Department h the old Independence, Indepen-dence, for half a century the recching ship at Mare Island Navy Yard. The Independence was the only American Amer-ican sWp afloat during the War of 1S12 which was rated ns a "ship of the line," American Dag to the Mediterranean. She cost ? 121,810 and carried fcovenly-four guns. It is proposed to make her one of the features of the Panama Epositioc, and it is to be hoped Ehe will in some manner Ihj preserved rather thnn sent 'o the junk heap. Nnvr otllcers are anxious to have the ritanch old vessel, which has leen almost a century ot service, honor-ubly honor-ubly taken care of. Helps Small Powers. This system of selling old war ships to foreign navies has been a help to many second class Powers. Japan, with al superb navy to-day, bought her first armored man of war from the United States. This vessel was built by Messrs. Ar-man, Ar-man, of Bordoaur, France, for the Confederate Con-federate States in 1805. It was an Ironclad Iron-clad ram, then named the Sphinx, and carried onr 300-pounder and two 70-pound Armstrong guns. The Sphinx was aold under certain conditions con-ditions to the Danish government, but on her way to Denmark sho was taken into a Swodish port nud nominally sold to a Swedish gentleman. She vns thon delivered deliv-ered to a Confederate omcer in the open sea off the coast of France. All this was j to avoid international complications. I United States Secret Service men know jj , ii; of the operation, aDd federal cruisera fl- I 1 lowed the vessel, which had ben renamed III 1 the Stonewall, until she was driven lata ! I 1 Hi Havana Harbor, where, to .avoid capture, Jij her commander dimble(3 her and turned her over to the Spanish Governor Gea- IJi er.il In May, 1SG.". The vessel was later j1 delivered to the United States. She waa )i I j then mon or lcs3 out of date, measured 1 a by rapidly advanc'ng naval fl.indards, i' rj and was sold to .Upan, together with J' ' two sailing veicls, which became rht b nucleus of the Mikado's ne,w navy. Jltf A nnmbcr of United States vessels o! )H .war have been sold to Peru, Fracce, Haytl IJi I and Bni7il. ji I Recently condemned and soon to be sold ! a I is the old wooden steam sloon of war I !l " III" iXipsic. Not ODiy does the passing of 1 ,' the Xlpsic recall intcrcstinc history, but j I she is directly concerned in tho present jjj .-ystem of repairing vessels and is partly Ji p rcsponsl))le for the hw restricting rh amount of money to be sppnt en the re II pair of war vessels. y In the early seventies Congress v. at I ! indisposed to appropriate much money I for the building of war ships but waa J j willing to havcsomc of the oid vessels II j repaired. Accordingly the Nipsic wax I J Ik practically razed and a new vessel built j around the old cast iron hawse pipes, I which served as a base. This Uas- j I ticity of the repair clause led. Congres j to pass regulations restricting tho cost of 11' repair of a wooden Tassel to twenty per j , cent ot the original cost. Later the hgurt I j r.ab reduced to ten i.er cent, r j Cost of Repairing. j The present limit for the cost of re- j I pairs of steel vessels 13 lixod nt twenty II per cent of the contract price. II The Nipsic, which will soon be sold, J If was at Apia, Samoa, on March 15 and I JJ JO. 15S9, with the American war ves- j 11- sob Trenton and Vandalia, in company j J I J with the British ship Calliope and tho I If j I IS',' German vessels Olga, Eber nad Adler. j mr International relations were strained j J t nt the time and there were fears at homo I j that hostilities might break out between j I I the vessels stationed at Apia, but on 11 March 1G a tropical hurricane swept the 11 I v harbor and the Calliope alone of all tho Dm vessels there succeeded in making her jl r way out of the harbor Into the offlng. jlp As she passed the Trenton the band on 1 .. the Ampncan vessel played and the men jj. and officers cheered the British, al- j though, because of their position, there f was no chance that they could make their 'X own way to safety. f1 P The Trenton and the Vandalia wero ' d wrecked and the Nipsic 'na cast ashore, ! P I many lives bing lost. After the hurricane j r" the Nipsic was floated and u.sie her wa ; to Honolulu, where she waa docked and lj? 1! d put into better condition. (k) War vessels are not the only material J - the Navy Department dispc, of at auc- Ijt- tion. Recently James Sbawan & Sons p ' purchased from the government a dry I j dock which was bought from Spain at th closo of the Spanhh-AmerJcan war. This ij dock v, as built by Swan & Hunter at Now- J26 castle on Tyne, England, for the Spanish J ; government and was in Havana Harbor , when Ouba was occupied and purchased 0b from the Spaniards. Jt has servod at jr the Navy Yard In Fensacola and hat been lowtd to New York by its neit owners. ... ' . JUiA |