HISTORIC SHIPS
ARE SOON TO
BE SCRAPPED
WASHINGTON, July 12 (by Associ
ated Press).—Decision of the navy de
partment to break up and sell for junk
or use for targets twelve obsolete
battleships marks the passing of a
fleet of vessels long identified with
many of the most glorious achieve
ments of the American navy. They
wrote many bright pages into this
country’s naval history during their
years of service, and four of them
have participated actively in two wars.
The doomed ships, including the fam
ous old Spanish-American war squad
ron, consisting of the Oregon, Iowa,
Indiana and Massachusetts, and the
more modern but hardly less famous
Kentucky, Kearsarge, Alabama, Illi
nois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri and
Maine, composed one of the most, if
not the most, powerful battleship
fleets in the world more than fifteen
years ago.
ruitJXliUOL cwpnuxjg tut; abintivcmcuvo
of these famous old fighting craft is
the part they played in the Spanish
American war. The Oregon, which
had been commissioned at San Fran
cisco in July, 1896, was at Mare Island
navy yard in 1898 when the message
was flashed to her commander that
the United States was at war with
Spain. On March 6. 1898, the famous
old ship cleared the Golden Gate,
bound for the West Indies, on what
proved to be the most epoch-making
battleship voyage ever undertaken.
With decks stripped for action and
gun crews at their stations, the Oregon
plowed around Cape Horn, up the east
coast of South America, and arrived
at Key West on May 26. ready for ac
tion, having made the 14,000-mile voy
age in sixtv-eight cruising days. Capt.
C. E. Clark, the Oregon’s commanding
officer, was ordered to take his ship
to Santiago and there join the block
ading squadron which was awaiting
battle with the Spanish fleet.
In the meantime the Iowa, Massa
chusetts and Indiana, sister ships of
the Oregon, were attached to the North
Atlantic fleet, and already had arrived
off Cuba, the Massachusetts being part
of the famous “flying squadron” un
der command of Commodore Schley.
The Oregon, already famous
throughout the world for her glorious
and successful voyage to join the
American fleet in time for the impend
ing battle, gained greater glory in the
action off Santiago de Cuba on Sun
day, July 3, 1898, when Spanish sea
power was forever humbled and the
liberation of the Philippines and Cuba
was assured. In that now historic
sea fight the Oregon ran the Vizcaya,
pride of the Spanish fleet, ashore after
riddling the craft with hits from her
eight and thirteen-inch guns, and then
engaged in a running fight with the
Colon, which surrendered after having
been cut off from the open sea by the
Oregon and forced to head for the
beach. A shot at the Colon from one
of the Oregon’s thirteen-inch guns was
the last shot fired during the battle.
Both the Indiana and the Iowa par
ticipated in the battle at Santiago, the
Massachusetts having gone to Guan
tanamo to coal on the day of the en
gagement. The crew of the Massa
chusetts, much disappointed at having
missed the fight, gained revenge the
next night, when that vessel and the
old battleship Texas engaged and sunk
the Spanish cruiser Reina Mercedes as
that vessel attempted to escape from
the harbor at Santiago.
The Massachusetts was the flagship
of the naval vessels in charge of con
voying American troops from Cuba to
Porto Rico for the Porto Rican cam
paign. A few years ago the Texas,
later renamed the San Marcos, was
used as a target for later battleships
at Tangier sound, Chesapeake bay.
After the Spanish-American war the
Oregon returned to the west coast,
where the glorious old ship, then in
the height of her fame, was received
with tremendous demonstrations. She
remained there on duty with the Pa
cific fleet until a decade ago, when,
her usefulness gone, she was placed in
reserve commission.
The Iowa, Massachusetts and Indi
ana participated in the home-coming
of the victorious Atlantic fleet after
the Spanish-American war, and re
mained on duty in home waters for
many years. After the Oregon had
been placed in reserve the three sister
ships were for several years used as
training vessels, and conveyed the mid
shipmen from the naval academy
abroad each summer for a practice
cruise. Finally they, too, were moored
to the docks in the navy yards, appar
ently to rust away.
In the meantime a later class
ships had been launched to add to the
might of American naval power. The
Kearsarge, Kentucky, Illinois, Wiscon
sin, Maine, Missouri and Ohio,
launched between 1898 and 1901,
formed the nucleus of the new “steel”
navy that was winning the United
States an assured place among the
great naval powers. These ships, then
unsurpassed in the world, carried the
American flag into the ports of the
world for many years, and in 1907.
when the mighty United States fleet
left New York for the historic cruise
around the world, to demonstrate in
all lands the might and power of the
American navy, they held their places
with their more modern sisters
throughout that memorable voyage.
Greeted with remarkable demonstra
tions in South America, the west coast
of the United States, Australia, New
Zealand, the islands of the Pacific, the
far eastern ports and points in the
Mediterranean, the great fleet com
pleted the most comprehensive cruise
ever undertaken by so large a body
of ships of war.
On the return of the fleet to this
country the older ships were forced
into the background by the “new”
| navy, and were sent to the back chan
i nels of the navy yards to join the Ore
; gon, Iowa, Massachusetts and Indiana.
The entrance of the United States
into the world war brought a demand
for every ton of sea power the United
States could command, and again the
old navy was called upon to defend
the flag. All of the twelve old vessels
were outfitted, modern fire control ap
pliances were installed, new coats of j
“war paint” were applied to their
time-scarred sides, and they were
called out to join the fleet.
The Oregon saw service on the west
coast throughout the war as a coast
defense vessel and training ship for
enlisted personnel. The Massachu
setts, Iowa and Indiana were used for
a time as station ships at Newport,
R. I.; Norfolk, Va., and New York re
spectively, and later were ordered
south to join the main fighting force j
which already included the Kearsarge,
Kentucky and the other vessels of
ancient fame. For the remainder of
the war the historic old ships took
part in the operations of the Atlantic
fleet along the coast and rendered val
uable service as training ships.
After the armistice the Iowa, Mas
sachusetts and Indiana were sent to
the navy yard at Philadelphia, where
their colors were hauled down for the
last time and they were consigned to
the graveyard of ships. The Oregon
suffered a similar fate on the Pacific
coast. The other ships of the old navy
remained temporarily on duty, most of
them for use as troop transports, but
they, too, will soon be relegated to
the scrap heap.
The Oregon has been offered to the
state of Oregon for such use as she
may see fit to make of it as a training
ship and naval historical museum, the
only condition being that the common
wealth keep the old sea fighter in
good condition, as befits a tiine-hon
ored pensioner of glorious history. The
Iowa, Massachusetts and Indiana prob
ably will be broken up. in order that
the valuable metal contained in them,
particularly copper and brass, may lie
utilized in the construction of more
modern vessels. Several of the other
old ships will be used for targets and
the rest junked.
Three other vessels, famous forever
in American naval annals, the Olym
pia, Admiral Dewey’s flagship at Ma
nila bay; the New York, Rear Admiral
Sampson’s flagship, and the Brooklyn,
Rear Admiral Schley’s flagship, also
saw service during the world war, and
are still on active duty in various parts
of the world. It is probable that in
a very few years all of these historic
vessels will be placed out of commis
sion for good. They will never, how
every, be scrapped, in the opinion of
naval officers.
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I
L. WALN, Prop. y
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CORDOVA, ALASKA
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“And my I
GOODRICH Shoes ||
, outwore Six pairs of his” I
^B
He is an old timer—been in Alaska for 21 I
; years—and just back in the States. He I
> was visiting the Goodrich Factory and we B
asked him, of course, if he ever used our 1
Goodrich “Hi-Press” Boots and Shoes I
while he was up there, and he said— 1
“Say, those are some shoes you people make. 1
i Why, I remember one time when my part- 1
ner and I went over the hills and I wore a I
pair of your Goodrich White Pacs. He ■
didn’t! And he wore out six pairs before I
we got back—I still wore my first pair.” 1
1 i There’s the result of making Goodrich
j Rubber Footwear the new way,—IN ONE
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no leaking, no peeling, no half-soling. And 1
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| before you’ve worn them 24 hours.
; We make all kinds,—shoes, boots, snorts, 1
| and hip, for mining, fishing, logging, pros- 8
pecting, etc. They always have “The Red I1
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