Lieutenant Hobson had a fine plan laid out; but the trouble with fine plans is that they do not always work in a fine way. He was to go in to where the channel was very narrow. Then he was to let the anchor fall and swing the ship round crossways with the rudder. Then he would touch the b.u.t.ton to fire the torpedoes. When that was done they would all jump overboard and swim to the little boat that was towed astern. They expected the _Merrimac_ would sink across the channel and thus cork it up.
That was the plan. Don"t you think it was a very good one? I am sure Lieutenant Hobson and Admiral Sampson thought so, and felt sure they were going to give the Spaniards a great deal of trouble.
It was about three o"clock when the _Merrimac_ came into the mouth of the channel. Here it was pitch dark and as still as death. But the Spaniards were not asleep. They had a small picket-boat in the harbor"s mouth, on the lookout for trouble, and its men saw a deeper darkness moving through the darkness.
They thought it must be one of the American warships and rowed out and fired several shots at it. One of these hit the chains of the rudder and carried them off. That spoiled Hobson"s plan of steering across the channel. You see, as I have just told you, it does not take much to spoil a good plan.
The alarm was given and the Spaniards in the forts roused up. They looked out and saw this dark shadow gliding swiftly on through the gloom. They, too, thought it must be an American battleship, and that the whole fleet might be coming close behind to attack the ships in the harbor.
The guns of Morro Castle and of the sh.o.r.e batteries began to rain their b.a.l.l.s on the _Merrimac_. Then the Spanish ships joined in and fired down the channel until there was a terrible roar. And as the _Merrimac_ drove on, a dynamite mine under the water went off behind her, flinging the water into the air, but not doing her any harm.
The cannonade was fierce and fast, but the darkness and the smoke of the guns hid the _Merrimac_, and she went on unhurt. Soon the narrow part of the channel was reached. Then the anchor was dropped to the bottom and the engines were made to go backward. The helm was set, but the ship did not turn. Hobson now first learned that the rudder chains were gone and the ship could not be steered. The little picket-boat had spoiled his fine plan.
There was only one thing left to do. He touched the electric b.u.t.ton. In a second a dull roar came up from below and the ship pitched and rolled.
A thousand pounds of powder had exploded and blown great jagged holes in the ship"s sides.
Hobson and his men leaped over the side into the water. Those who were slow about it were flung over by the shock. Down plunged the _Merrimac_ beneath the waves, while loud cheers came from the forts. The Spanish gunners were glad, for they thought they had sunk a great American battleship.
[Ill.u.s.tration: HOBSON BLOWING UP THE MERRIMAC.]
But it does not matter to us what the Spaniards thought. All we want to know is what became of Lieutenant Hobson and his daring men. Their little boat had been carried away by a Spanish shot, and they were swimming in the deep waters without knowing what would be their fate. On one side was the sea; on the other were the Spaniards: they did not know which would be the worst.
"I swam away from the ship as soon as I struck the water," said Hobson, "but I could feel the eddies drawing me backward in spite of all I could do. That did not last long, however, and as soon as I felt the tugging cease I turned and struck out for the float, which I could see dimly bobbing up and down over the sunken hull."
The float he spoke of was a sort of raft which lay on the ship"s deck, with a rope tied to it so as to let it float. The rope pulled one side of it a little under the water, so that the other side was a little above the water.
This was a good thing for Hobson and his men, for Spanish boats were soon rowing out to where the ship had gone down. The eight men got under the high side of the raft, and held on to it by putting their fingers through the crevices.
"All night long we stayed there with our noses and mouths barely out of the water," says Hobson.
They were afraid to speak or move, for fear they would be shot by the men in the boats. It was that way all night long. Boats kept rowing about, some of them very close, but n.o.body thought of looking under the raft. The water felt warm at first, but after a while it felt cold, and their fingers ached and their teeth chattered.
One of the men, who thought he could not stand this any longer, left the raft and started to swim ash.o.r.e. Hobson had to call him back. He came at once, but the call was heard on the boats and they rowed swiftly up. But they did not find the hiding place of the men and rowed away again.
After daylight came Hobson saw a steam-launch approaching from the ships. There were officers in it, and when it came near he gave it a hail. His voice seemed to scare the men on board, for they backed off in great haste.
They were still more surprised when they saw a number of men clamber out from under the float. The marines in the launch were about to fire, but the officers would not let them.
Then Hobson swam towards the launch and called out in Spanish:
"Is there an officer on board?"
"Yes," came the reply.
"I have seven men to surrender," said Hobson.
He now swam up and was seized and lifted out of the water. One of the men who had hold of him was Admiral Cervera, the commander of the Spanish fleet.
The admiral gave an odd look at the queer kind of fish he had caught.
Hobson had been in the engine-room of the _Merrimac_ and was covered with oil, coal-dust, and soot. But he wore his officer"s belt, and when he pointed to that the admiral smiled and bade him welcome.
Then the men were taken on board the launch, where they were well treated. They had come very near death and had escaped.
Of course, you want to read the rest of this story. Well, they were locked up in Morro Castle. This was a fine old fort on the cliff at the harbor"s mouth, where they could see the great sh.e.l.ls come in from the ships and explode, and see the Spanish gunners fire back.
Admiral Cervera was very kind to them and sent word to Admiral Sampson that they were safe, and that he would exchange them for Spanish prisoners.
They were not exchanged until July 7, and by that time Admiral Cervera"s ships had all been destroyed and he was a prisoner himself.
CHAPTER XXIX
SAMPSON AND SCHLEY WIN RENOWN
THE GREATEST SEA FIGHT OF THE CENTURY
I HAVE told you what Hobson did and what Wainwright did at Santiago. Now it is time to tell all about what the ships did there; the story of the great Spanish dash for liberty and its woeful ending.
Santiago is the second city of Cuba. It lies as far to the east as Havana does to the west, and is on the south of the island, while Havana is on the north. Like Havana, it has a fine harbor, which is visited by many ships.
Well, soon after the war with Spain began, our naval captains were in trouble. They had a riddle given them for which they could not find the answer. There was a squadron of Spanish warships at sea, and n.o.body knew where to look for them. They might fire into the cities along the coast and do no end of damage. Maybe there was not much danger of this; but there is nothing sure in war, and it does not take much to scare some people.
The navy wanted to be on the safe side, so one part of the fleet was put on the lookout along our coast; and another part, under Commodore Schley, went around the west end of the island of Cuba; and a third part, under Admiral Sampson, went to the east. They were all on the hunt for the Spanish ships, but for days and days nothing of them was to be seen.
After they had looked into this hole and into that hole along the coast, like sea-dogs hunting a sea-c.o.o.n, word came that the Spanish ships had been seen going into Santiago harbor. Then straight for Santiago went all the fleet, with its captains very glad to have the answer to the riddle.
Never before had the United States so splendid a fleet to fight with.
There were five fine battleships, the _Iowa_, the _Indiana_, the _Ma.s.sachusetts_, the _Oregon_, and the _Texas_. Then there was the _New York_, Admiral Sampson"s flagship, and the _Brooklyn_, Commodore Schley"s flagship. These were steel-clad cruisers, not so heavy, but much faster than the battleships. Besides these there were monitors, and cruisers, and gunboats, and vessels of other kinds, all spread like a net around the mouth of the harbor, ready to catch any big fish that might swim out. Do you not think that was a pretty big crowd of ships to deal with the Spanish squadron, which had only four cruisers and two torpedo-boats?
But then, you know, the insider sometimes has a better chance than the outsider. It is not easy to keep such a crowd of vessels together out at sea. They run out of coal, or get out of order, or something else happens. If the insider keeps his eyes wide open and waits long enough his chance will come.
Admiral Cervera, the Spanish commander, was in a very tight place.
Outside lay the American ships, and inside was the American army, which kept pushing ahead and was likely to take Santiago in a few days. If he waited he might be caught like a rat in a trap. And if he came outside he might be caught like a fish in a net. He thought it all over and he made up his mind that it was better to be a fish than a rat, so he decided to come out of the harbor.
He waited till the 3d of July. On that day there were only five of the big ships outside--four of the battleships and the cruiser _Brooklyn_.
And two of the battleships were a little out of order and were being made right. Admiral Sampson had gone up the coast with the _New York_ for a talk with the army general, so he was out of the way.
No doubt the Spanish lookouts saw all this and told their admiral what they had seen. So, on that Sunday morning, with every vessel under full steam, the Spaniards raised their anchors and started on their last cruise.
Now let us take a look at the big ships outside. On these everybody was keeping Sunday. The officers had put on their best Sunday clothes, and the men were lying or lounging idly about the deck. Of course, there were lookouts aloft. Great ships like these always have their lookouts.
A war-vessel never quite goes to sleep. It always keeps one eye open.
This Sunday morning the lookouts saw smoke coming up the harbor, but likely enough they thought that the Spaniards were frying fish for their Sunday breakfast.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FIGHTING TOP OF THE TEXAS.]