Out of the channel they dashed, four noble ships, and turned to the west along the coast. Only the Brooklyn was on that side of the harbor, and for ten minutes three of the Spanish ships poured at her a terrible fire.
But soon the Oregon, the Indiana, the Iowa, and the Texas came rapidly up, and the Spanish gunners had new game to fire at.
You might suppose that the huge iron shells, whirling through the air, and bursting with a frightful roar, would tear and rend the ships as though they were made of paper.
But just think how it was at Manila, where the Spaniards fired at the sea and the sky, and the Americans fired at the Spanish ships. It was the same here at Santiago. The Spaniards went wild with their guns and wasted their balls, while the Americans made nearly every shot tell.
It was a dreadful tragedy for Spain that day on the Cuban coast. The splendid ships which came out of the harbor so stately and trim, soon looked like ragged wrecks. In less than half an hour two of them were ashore and in a fierce blaze, and the two others were flying for life. The first to yield was the Maria Teresa, the flagship of the admiral. One shell from the Brooklyn burst in her cabin and in a second it was in flames. One from the Texas burst in the engine-room and broke the steam-pipe. Some burst on the deck; some riddled the hull; death and terror were everywhere.
The men were driven from the guns, the flames rose higher, the water poured in through the shot holes, and there was nobody to work the pumps. All was lost, and the ship was run ashore and her flag pulled down.
In very few minutes the Oquendo followed the flagship ashore, both of them looking like great blazing torches. The shells from the great guns had torn her terribly, many of her crew had been killed, and those who were left had to run her ashore to keep her from going to the bottom of the sea.
In half an hour, as you may see, two of the Spanish ships had been half torn to pieces and driven ashore, and only two were still afloat. These were the Vizcaya and the Cristobal Colon. When the Maine was sent to Havana, before the beginning of the war, a Spanish warship was sent to New York. This was the Vizcaya. She was a trim and handsome ship and her officers had a hearty welcome.
It was a different sort of welcome she now got. The Brooklyn and the Oregon were after her and her last day had come. So hot was the fire that her men were driven from their guns and flames began to appear.
Then she, too, was run ashore and her flag was hauled down. It was just an hour after the chase began and she had gone twenty miles down the coast. Now she lay blazing redly on the shallow shore and in the night she blew up. It was a terrible business, the ruin of those three fine vessels.