U.S.S. GLOUCESTER in Action at the
Battle of Santiago de Cuba
GLOUCESTER's attack on the FUROR, as seen from INDIANA:
"...By this time we [the U.S.S. INDIANA]
were
under forced draft and headed for the entrance [of Santiago Harbor]. To
port of us was the IOWA and to starboard the
converted
yacht GLOUCESTER. The yacht was commanded
by
Lieutenant Commander Richard Wainwright who had been executive officer
of the MAINE when she was destroyed in Havana
Harbor..."
As the destroyers advanced against us the fire of our secondary
battery
and the starboard 8 inch turret guns was shifted from the cruisers to
them
[the Spanish destroyers] and at the same time we sent a signal to the GLOUCESTER,
'Destroyers coming out.' This signal was misunderstood (perhaps
purposely).
(The GLOUCESTER claimed later that she
thought
our signal was 'Gunboats close in'). She headed for the Spaniards at
full
speed running directly into our zone of fire and, before 'Cease firing'
could be transmitted to the secondary battery, we barely missed sinking
her. Just before the order was obeyed one of our 8-inch shells struck
the
Spanish destroyer PLUTON, and she disappeared in
a great cloud of flame and smoke, which, as it dissipated, showed a few
of her people struggling in the water."
"Meanwhile the GLOUCESTER engaged the
FUROR
at point-blank range; they were almost alongside of each other. We
could
see the GLOUCESTER's guns tearing her to
shreds.
Then something happened to the FUROR's steering
gear
and she commenced running in circles eventually crashing on the rocks."
(The account of Daniel P. Mannix, 3rd)
The View from the FUROR:
"'From the very first,' Lieutenant Commander Diego Carlier of the FUROR
reported,
'we received an enormous amount of fire...and were struck by shells of
every caliber. We soon commenced to have casualties from the galling
fire
and many injuries to the ship...' Captain Fernando Villaamil,
commanding
the destroyer flotilla, was wounded by a shell that hit the bridge.
Steam
pipes and boilers burst, the engines were damaged, fire broke out, and
a magzine exploded. Finally, the servomotor controlling the rudder was
put out of commission. The FUROR began circling
erractically.
The GLOUCESTER raked her with deadly
automatic
fire at a range of six hundred yards."
(As a service to our readers, clicking on title in red
will take you to that book on Amazon.com)
Blow, Michael, A
Ship to Remember , (New York: William Morrow and Company,
Inc.,
1992).
Mannix, Daniel P., 3rd, The Old Navy. (New York:
MacMillan
Publishing Co., 1983). p. 50
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