25. Hobson and the Merrimac

When the United States was at war with Spain in 1898, a Spanish fleet crossed the Atlantic and sailed into Santiago Bay. Commodore Schley at once sailed his squadron of ships there to prevent the escape of the Spanish fleet, and he was soon joined by Rear-admiral Sampson, who took charge of the whole American fleet. The entrance to Santiago Bay is so long and narrow, that, knowing it was full of mines and protected by forts on either side, the American Government would not allow Sampson’s fleet to try to force an entrance. So all the ships could do was to shell the forts along the coast and keep watch day and night. The Americans knew that if a storm arose and their ships should be obliged to run out to sea, the Spanish admiral would take advantage of it and run out of the harbor and possibly attack some of the ill-defended coast towns. The navy was very anxious to find a way of blocking the harbor so that the Spanish fleet could not get out. Admiral Sampson decided to run the Merrimac into the channel at night, swing it across the narrow point and sink it there, thus making a barrier which could not easily be removed. “Who will undertake this service of sinking the Merrimac?” was the question, and immediately there were far more men than could be used. Naval Constructor Hobson, with some brave volunteers, was assigned the task, which seemed in all probability to mean certain death. At three o’clock in the morning the Merrimac entered the narrow channel and steamed in under the guns of the great Morro Castle. The stillness of the night was broken by the wash of a small patrol boat approaching from the shore. The boat ran close up under the stern of the Merrimac and fired several shots, one of which carried away the rudder. In a moment the guns from the Spanish ships and forts were turned upon the Merrimac; and although torpedoes exploded all around them, and mines went off under them, Hobson coolly gave his orders. The torpedoes were touched off, and as the Merrimac sank, he and his men were swept overboard into the chilling waters. There, escaping death as by a miracle, they clung to an old raft. When the Merrimac sank the Spaniards cheered wildly, thinking they had sunk an American ship trying to steal into the harbor unseen. Many boats pushed out from the shore to examine the wreck. A Spanish launch came toward the raft. Hobson and his men agreed to capture this boat and run away. But just as she came close the heads of half a dozen Spanish soldiers peeped up and each man pointed his rifle at the heads of the Americans. “Is there any officer in that boat to receive a surrender of prisoners of war?” Hobson shouted. An old man leaned out under the awning and waved his hand. It was Admiral Cervera. The soldiers lowered their rifles, and the prisoners were helped into the launch. Hobson and his brave companions spent more than a month in Spanish prisons, but at length an exchange of prisoners made it possible for them to be returned in safety, and ever since the story of Hobson and the sinking of the Merrimac has been told as one of the most heroic deeds in the history of modern times.