USS Winslow (TB-5)-- Part 2: The Battle of Cardenas

As the United States and Spain got closer to war after the USS Maine blew up mysteriously in Havana Harbor, the Winslow went to Key West to be closer to where the action was expected to happen.  After war was declared, the Winslow patrolled the  north coast of Cuba near Havana, Cardenas and Mantanzas.

On 8 May 1898, she forced three Spanish gunboats back into Cardenas Harbor.   On 11 May, the Winslow, USRC Hudson and USS Wilmington steamed into Cardenas Harbor looking for those three Spanish gunboats.  A battle erupted.

The Spanish concentrated their fire on the Winslow, which was the smallest of the three American ships, and she soon started getting hit.  Shots all but disabled the Winslow.  The other two American ships joined the battle and  soon put the Spanish warship out of action.

A request went out to be towed to safety.  As the Hudson was towing the Winslow, one last Spanish shot struck the torpedo boat near her starboard gun and killed Ensign Worth Bagley.  He was the first and only naval officer killed in action in the war.

In memory of his sacrifice and devotion, four ships in the U.S. Navy have carried his name.

There were temporary repairs at Key West and Mobile before sailing to New York Navy Yard, put out of commission and then extensive repairs were carried out.

--Cooter

USS Montgomery (C-9)-- Part 2: Took Part in the Spanish-American War

The USS Montgomery was launched 5 December 1891 by Columbian Iron  Works in Baltimore, Maryland; sponsored by Miss Sofia Smith; and commissioned at Norfolk  Navy Yard (Virginia)  21 June 1894, Commander Charles Henry Davis, Jr. in command.

Assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron and operated along the eastern edge of the U.S. as far south as the Caribbean Sea.

During the Spanish-American War she  cruised near Cuba and Haiti in April 1898 and in May joined the blockade of Havana.  She took two prizes, the Lorenzo and Frasquito, on 5 May, and shelled the Spanish forts  a week later.

On 13 June a 280 Krupp gun at the Santa Clara  Battery fired on the Montgomery at a range of 9,000 meters, apparently without effect.

--Cooter

He Fired When Ready-- Part 3: Dewey to Strike First and Hard

So, Charles Gridley finally had that plum command, the USS Olympia.  But then, on February 15, 1898, the USS Maine blew up while anchored in Havana Harbor, Cuba.  The relations between Spain, who controlled Cuba, and the United States had been worsening for years.

The American people, spurred on by a Yellow Press Campaign of Spanish misdeeds in Cuba, were upset about heavy-handed tactics the Spanish were using to put down Cubans who were striving for independence.  And, the American government and business interests were trying to find ways to grab Spain's colonial possessions and make them their own.

The commander of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron, George Dewey,  had been preparing for war for months.  He knew that Spain's hold on the Philippines was tenuous at best, and that if he moved swiftly, he could strike a first blow and weaken Spain's ability to resist.

Just as soon as war was declared, he moved fast to destroy the Spanish fleet operating out of  Manila in the Philippines.

--Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 2: Completed a 16,000 Cruise from Pacific to Atlantic in 66 Days (Pre-Panama Canal)

Two of the Indiana-class battleships were built on the U.S. East Coast and the Oregon on the West Coast.  The Oregon was commissioned on 15 July 1896 and joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

On 15 February 1898, the USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, Cuba, during rising tensions between Spain and the U.S..  The Oregon was in dry dock at the time and was refloated the next day and placed under the command of Captain Charles Edgar Clark and ordered to steam the U.S. East Coast to join the North Atlantic Fleet and arrived after a 16,000 mile journey in just 66 days.  

While passing through the Cape Horn the ship encountered a horrific storm  (these three battleships had very low freeboards and did not do well in rough seas).  This was before the Panama Canal was built and became a major reason for its construction.

The Oregon arrived in Key West on 26 May and joined the North Atlantic Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson.  The Spanish fleet had been located and blockaded in the harbor of Santo de Cuba, Cuba.  The Spanish squadron was under the command of Rear Admiral Pasqual Cervera y Topete and consisted of  the armored cruisers Infanta Maria Teresa, Cristobol Colon, Vizcaya and Almirante Oquendo and destroyers Pluton and Furor.

--Cooter

When Presidents Lied or Misled U.S. to War-- Part 2: The Spanish-American War

James Polk followed James Madison's (War of 1812, see the Nov. 19, 2018) Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog post) agenda when he concealed his westward expansion policy.

President William McKinley wanted to go to war with Spain in the 1890s and used what was a faulty boiler causing the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor.  He even promised to free the people of Cuba from Spanish occupation.

So in 1898, we went to war at his behest without his consulting Congress or the American people.

But what it really was an attempt for an American empire.  He grabbed the Philippines from Spain and demanded the conversion of its people to Christianity.  (I thought the people of the Philippines were Catholic when the U.S. took over.)

--Cooter

The Bathtub from the USS Maine-- Part 1: Everyone Wants a Piece of the Ship

From Factbites.

Yes, that USS Maine cited as a reason for the Spanish-American War when it blew up in Cuba's Havana Harbor.

It is located in the Hancock Historical Museum in Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio.

**  When the USS Maine was raised in 1911, every Congressman wanted a piece of it.

**  The courthouse janitor eventually typed a "U.S.S. Maine Bathtub" sign and attached it to the case because he got tired of explaining it to visitors.

**  Most of its enamel is gone, but it doesn't detract from the fact that it is from that famous ship.

--CootBath

Spanish-American War Memorial Dedicated in Goldsboro, NC-- Part 3: All Four Died of Disease

Members of the Bain family were on hand to witness the event.  T.H. Bain, the great grandson of T.H. Bain came to the event from Florida and said, "We're really extremely honored that Mr. Tillman not only honored the four men who died but honored Theodore Bain and the Bain family and we're very appreciative as well."

Great granddaughter of Captain T.H. Bain, Georgia Bain Reese, from Wilmington, N.C., was also on hand.

The four men honored on the memorial are: Pvt. Archer C. Hayes, Pvt. Newman P. Jones, Pvt. Charles R. Barnes and Pvt. Thomas R. Edwards.  Hayes and Jones died in a Florida camp and Barnes and Edwards died in Havana, Cuba.

--Cooter