Olympia as Flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay At dawn on 1May1898, USS Olympia led a squadron of six American ships, displacing over 19, 000 tons, into Manila Bay to do battle with the Spanish squadron of two unarmored cruisers and five gunboats, displacing in all 11,300 tons, which lay moored behindprotective booms inside the bay. The American ships carried 53 guns of 5-inch caliber or better (ten were 8-inchers), while the aging Spanish ships carried only 31 major guns, the heaviest being seven 6.2-inchers. The scene was set for the Battle ofManila Bay. At 5: 15 AM, the guns on Sangley Point and aboa rd the Spanish ships opened an inaccurate fire . Dewey, anxious to conserve his ammunition until close enough to ensure hits, did not respond. "O ur hearts threatened to burst from desire to respond, " recalled "Lieu" Tisdale aboard the flagship as they listened to the calling of the ranges. "I sat upon the gun-seat repeating to the rhythm of the engine's throb , 'Hold your fire ... hold yo ur fire ... hold yo ur fire until the bugle sounds,' while my fin gers grew numb upon the spark," he continued. Several Spanish mines exploded ahead of the Olympia, and the naval and fortress guns seemed to be probing for range. Dewey had instructed Gridl ey to go to the armored conning tower and direct the ship's gunfire in the impending fight. The commodore, together with Lieutenant Calkins, would stay on the bridge or possibly climb to the raised compass platform above that bridge in order to direct the entire squadron's activities. G ridley obeyed reluctan tly. Obviously, it would not have been wise to have both fleet and ship commander together on the same bridge in the event of an enemy hit. While not in good health, Gridley's sense of duty held him close to the helm. At approximately 5:22 AM, with the range still a distant 5,500 yards, the flag officer turned and spoke into the brass communication tube between bridge and conning tower those simple but im mortal words, "Yo u may fire when you are ready, Gridley." According to Olympia's logbook, the starboard 8-inch gun in her fo1ward turret fired the first shot at 5:35 AM, soon followed by her companion. T he battle of Manila Bay had been joined.
* * * * * Atabout7:00AM, Montojo suddenly counterattacked. Several ineffectual Spanish 12
Olympia Leads Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord and Boston into action against the Spanish squadron holed up in Manila Bay. The Americans are confident, but not fu lly aware how totally they were to dominate the hapless Spanish squadron, putting an end in a few hours to the centuries-old Spanish naval dominance in the Philippines. ("USS Olympia: Dewey's Flagship Leads Navy Victory, Manila Bay, 1 May 1898, " by Carl G. Evers; printed with the permission ofhis estate) torpedo boat sorties had already been beaten back by the Olympia's rapid-fire guns. Now, the Spanish admiral ordered his flagship to leave its mooring and assault Dewey's counterpart just as the Americans made their second sweep westward. "As the Reina Christina came out from the yard to meet us she plamed a shell into the side [of the Olympia] right at my gun port, " recorded Longenecher, "but, it was spent and did not come all the way through, it burst." The Spanish flagship 's slower speed, as well as the full fury of all the American guns, quickly cut short her sortie. Dewey's ships raked her from bow to stern, said Gridley, his own ship obtaining range by cross bearings from the standard compass and the distance taken from the chart. Olympia crewman Tisdale in the sh ip 's aft turret remembered how one of their 8-inch shells ripped "through and through" the enemy ship, yet "like an enraged panther she came at us as though to las h sides and fight us hand to hand with battle axes, as in the olden Spanish wars." Swathed in fire and smoke, the Spanish vessel limped back mortally wounded to her moorage. Tisdale noted how the Spanish admiral soon transferred his flag from hi s dying flagship to the Castilla. (Montojo said it was the Isla de
Cuba). Then, about a half hour later, Dewey
received disturbing news from Gridley. The Olympia had only fifteen rounds of amm uniti on left for each of her 5-inch guns. "It was a most anxious moment for me, " the commodore recorded in his memoirs. T he battle seemed far from over; the enemy remained essentially unbowed. In fact, the Spanish ammunition supply seemed to be "as ample as ours was limited," thought the Vermonter. Assistant Surgeon Carpenter opined that "it did seem as though we had wasted a lot of ammunition for the true state of affairs was not obvious till later." Besides, Dewey knew that fifteen rounds could be used up in five minutes ' sustained fire. He immediately broke off the action so that his flotilla might count its remaining supply of shells. The tired and dirty tars also welcomed the respite to enjoy a hot breakfast. As it turned o ut, Grid ley's communique h ad been garbled. Only fifteen rounds had been expended and, with the smoke of battle temporarily lifted, Dewey and his ships' captains now could see the results of their fire-death and destruction were clearly 1evident aboard the enemy ships.
This excerpt is taken from B. Franklin Coolings book USS Olympia: Herald of Empire, availablefrom Navaflnstitute Press in November 2000 (see ad on page 47). SEA HISTORY 94, AUTUMN 2000