(Santiago
Harbor, June 3, 1898)
Into
the night she steamed away
While an anxious silence fell;
Straight
for the monsters dark and grim,
Glutted with shot and shell.
Somber
and swift and silent,
Scarcely a whispered breath;
On,
on towards Santiago,
On to success or death.
Grim
headlands rose in the distance,
Old Morro guarding the bay;
Waiting
with limbered Hontorias,
Waiting for a hated prey.
They
sleep! Then apast the entrance
Leaving a tell-tale track,
Into
the sharp curved channel,
Swept the bold Merrimac.
“What’s
that? The enemy’s picket?
A launch – they see us – ‘tis bad!
A
shot – three pounders – they’re fighting,
God, is the tiny thing mad?”
Then
a light flashed over the darkness,
The enemy sprang to their arms;
The
fleet and the forts awakened,
The night was rent with alarms.
They
tried to swing her crosswise,
Her helm she would not obey;
For
the nosing, pursuing picket
Had shot her rudder away!
Shot
and shell from the fleet at anchor,
Shot and shell from shore and shore;
Torpedoes
and mines upheaving,
A deafening, hellish roar.
A
storm of iron hail shrieking,
Closer the missiles fell;
Guns
flashed, and the darkness opened
Like gaps in a roaring hell.
Till
it seemed as if ship and heroes
Must be ground beneath the tide,
But
the God of war directed,
And the angry shots went wide.
Fiercely
they worked and quickly,
Teeth set and brave to a man;
“On
deck!” rang the clear, sharp order,
“Cut loose the catamaran!”
And
then the gallant commander,
When all was well with his crew,
Accomplished
in one hurried moment,
What the enemy failed to do.
He
torched the explosives and straightway,
With a hot, spasmodic breath,
The
Merrimac heaved in the middle
And sank to her glorious death.
A
cheer went up from the Spaniards,
And the firing died away;
And
they found eight floating heroes
On a raft at the break of day.
Not
a soul was harmed among them,
For the god of war had planned;
And
the Prince of the Spanish navy
Bore them safely to land.
Great
deeds have been done in battle,
Of valor there is no lack;
But
none have been greater, braver,
Than the dash of the Merrimac.
April,
‘99
picket – a picket
boat is a boat serving sentinel duty.
USS Merrimac was a United
States Navy collier during the Spanish-American War.
Merrimac,
a steamship, was built by Swan & Hunter shipyard as SS Solveig in
Wallsend, England, in November 1894. She was purchased by the US Navy in
April 1898. Rear Admiral William T. Sampson ordered her to be sunk as
a blockship at the entrance of Santiago Harbor, Cuba, in an
attempt to trap the Spanish fleet in the harbor. On the night of 2–3
June 1898, eight volunteers attempted to execute this mission, but Merrimac's
steering gear was disabled by the fire of Spanish land-based howitzers. The
American steamer was later sunk by the combined gunfire and the torpedoes of
the protected cruiser Vizcaya, the unprotected cruiser Reina
Mercedes, and the destroyer Pluton without obstructing the
harbor entrance. Her crewmen were rescued by the Spanish and made prisoners-of-war. After
the Battle of Santiago de Cuba destroyed the Spanish fleet a month
later, the men were released. All eight were awarded Medals of Honor for
their part in the mission.
The eight
volunteer crewman of the Merrimac were:
Lieutenant Richmond
P. Hobson
Coxswain Claus
K. R. Clausen
Coxswain Osborn
W. Deignan
Coxswain John
E. Murphy
Chief
Master-At-Arms Daniel Montague
Gunner's
Mate First Class George Charette
Machinist
First Class George F. Phillips
Watertender Francis
Kelly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Merrimac_(1894)
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