3-086-392 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Spanish-American War: the harbour and town of Santiago de Cuba..., 1898. '...where Admiral Cervera's fleet is now shut up. Fort Morro; Channel where the "Merrimac" was sunk...The long lull in the progress of the War has been broken by a gallant personal exploit and another bombardment...Being protected by forts, batteries, submerged mines, and torpedoes...along a narrow winding entrance channel, Cervera's fleet seemed to defy attack by the American fleet...But its chance of final escape was...apparently rendered quite hopeless by the sinking, with broadside across the channel, of...the Merrimac, which was merely an old merchant-ship...laden with coal. This was done by Naval-Constructor Lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson...This bold exploit...was skilfully arranged and punctually executed about four o'clock in the morning. Escorted to within the entrance of the harbour by one of the American ironclads, the Iowa, and passing the outer hostile batteries at Punta Gorda, La Socapa, and the Morro Fort...Lt. Hobson brought the Merrimac up to near the Estrella Battery, disregarding the torpedoes which were said to have been laid down by the Spaniards...Lt. Hobson got his vessel to swing... directly athwart the navigable channel.' From "Illustrated London News", 1898.