Cuner Service's firs t steel-hulled cuner, the ni nety-four-foot H udson, h ad a tugboat design; her crew included five officers and eightee n enli sted m en, includ in g two warrant officers, a cook, ship's steward and ship's boy. The shipyard 's commandant visited the cutter and asked Newcomb how soon they could get underway. Newcomb answered, "As soon as we ge r foo d and coal." Th e commandant yelled back, "Why, you have no guns and your protecting plates are nor fin ished ," to which Newco m b replied, "I know rhar, bur we could go." Hudson later received a pair of six-pound rapid-firin g guns, one each located fo re and aft; and a Colt automatic "machine gun" mounted on top of the deckhouse. She also had a layer of five-eighths-inch armor bolted around her pilothouse and deckhouse. O n 21 April, C ongress declared wa r with Spain , the T reasury Depa rtm ent forma lly tra nsferred cont rol of several revenue cuners to the Navy, a nd Frank Newcomb fo und himself servin g with the US Navy once again. Just two days later, Newcomb got his cutter underway fro m Norfolk and headed fo r Key Wesr, th e stagi ng area fo r US naval operations around Cuba . As they were rounding dreaded Cape Barreras on the Outer Banks of No rth Caro lina-Newcomb 's old sto m p in g grou nds with the Lifesaving Service-the Hudson sailed into the pat h of a severe storm, includ ing hu rrica ne-fo rce wind s, thunder and lightning, mountainous seas, torrenti al rain, and hail the size of "hen's eggs." The storm nea rly washed away Hudson's pilothouse, but the new armor plating held everything toge ther against the heavy seas and they co ntinued their course for the so uthern -most tip of the Florida Keys. O n Thursday, 5 May, Hudson, with her exhausted crew, drop ped anchor off Key Wes r, an d, th ere, Newcom b received his orders.
Caribbean Sea
As captain of cutter Hudson, the Navy assigned Newcomb to patrol the north coast of Cuba between Cardenas and Matanzas, just an overnight sail from Key West. Due to her relatively shallow draft of ten fee t, the n ava l command assigned Hudson to blockade the north C uban coast betwee n th e ports of Ca rdenas and Matanzas . O n 9 May, the cutter took up her duty stat ion and , by th e nexr d ay, Newcomb was busy scouti ng the approaches to Carden as Bay. Th ree sh all ow-draft gunboats were in charge of defending the Spanish port, and Newcomb tried his best to draw the vessels out for a fight, to no avail. H e and his crew then set out to take soundings of the two mai n channels that
led the bay, only to find them fill ed with de bris. H e co nsidered plow in g his way th ro ugh , but was wary of underwater min es. Afte r further reconnaissa nce, he fo und a th ird channel, free of debris, that wo uld be passable at high ride. Newcomb developed a plan to capture the gun boats by sending sh all ow-draft A m erican wars hips through the thi rd ch a nn el at hi gh tide. His squ ad ro n commander, Commander John Merry of t he gu n boat USS Machias, presented Newcomb 's plan to rhe fleet commander,
The Baltimore-built torpedo boat USS W inslow (TB-5) was stationed at Norfolk, Virginia, at the start ofthe Spanish-American War. Like all other US Navy torpedo boats of that generation, her hull was painted a distinctive olive green. These boats had to get within 200 yards of a target, putting their crews at considerable risk.
SEA HISTORY 157, WINTER 2016- 17
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