The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Manila Bay - Jan. 21st, 2003

http://www.homeofheroes.com/wallofhonor/spanish_am/03_manila.html ^

[Antoninus]

I think your mis-identified ship is either USS Oregon or USS Iowa (the first one!). I can't pick out any distinguishing features, however. Anyone?

[Victoria Delsoul]

Nope, you lose... it's not the same. LOL

[SAMWolf]

Same picture different source!

[SAMWolf]

Cuold be the Oregon, the forward tower looks like the one we have at Waterfront park.

[Victoria Delsoul]

And different colors, so it's not quite the same, LOL.

[SAMWolf]

LOL. It's still the same picture.

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL!!!

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

bump

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Pablo64]

Thank you for posting the information. I can't believe that I didn't think to check the Omaha news sources. I think if I had caught Mr. Edmisten's name I could have found something. Anyway, thank you again. I knew if anyone could find the info, it would be a FReeper.

[Pablo64]

Thank's for the help. I've been trying for quite some time to get my dad to write down or even tape record his memoirs. Some of the stories he has told me are priceless. Dad was in the Army Air Corps (later know as the Air Force) and one of his stations was at White Sands during the A-bomb tests. He has told me stories of having to check your cot for gila monsters prior to getting in, etc., of high ranking officers demanding that their drivers "take a shortcut" across the sand dunes rather than stick to the roads (dad says there are plenty of Jeep's probably still buried under the sand there).

Anyway, I'm hoping one of these days he'll slow down long enough to commit these stories to paper. He's just too busy "organizing" his garage, LOL!

[nicollo]

Thanks, Sam! **DEWEY BUMP**

[SAMWolf]

Finding his name was a big help. Took a while to find that though, I used a lot of combinations in the search before I hit an article that had his name.

[Darksheare]

U.S.S. Massachusets.

I still remember chuckling at my history book, because the Maine had off-center turrets, making it impossible for the starboard turret to fire to port, and vice-versa. They had neglected to properly open a pathway for the turrets to fire through.....

[Darksheare]

Somehwere down the line of links on the Centennial site I posted has a link to the Olympia's website.
I didn't check yet to see when it was last updated, but it mentioned that she needed hull repairs as teh metal is thinned out. Also mentioned that she needed to get to a drydock for such.

Hopefully, they're moving alomng on that. (What I thought was reprehensible, she's a national monument, yet the government refuses to lift a finger to restore her. Seems they care more about bogus wetlands in Florida that is merely a bulldozer scratch in the ground.)

[Antoninus]

U.S.S. Massachusetts

Excellent. Thanks!

I still remember chuckling at my history book, because the Maine had off-center turrets, making it impossible for the starboard turret to fire to port, and vice-versa. They had neglected to properly open a pathway for the turrets to fire through.....

Hence why it was a "second class" battleship. I wonder if the USS Texas, which I think also had en-echelon turrets could fire to the opposite sides?

[nicollo]

A couple minor asides:

1) Theodore Roosevelt is frequently credited with having precipited the war by having ordered Dewey to re-position the fleet towards the Philippines. This is entirely wrong. Asst. Sec. Navy Roosevelt got hold of the telegraph for a short time and did shoot off orders, but they were premature to the war and had no effect upon it.

2) Dewey pulled an incredible stunt by cutting the cables to/from Philippines and Washington from Hong Kong. This kept Washington in the dark after having given the orders to attack. It also kept Washington from interference. President McKinley spent an anxious few days before the news came through of the victory.

It upped the suspense of it all and thereby gave Dewey's victory a tremendous impact when the news finally hit.

Thanks again, Sam.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the additional info on Dewey and the battle.

[Darksheare]

Probably not.
The Maine was suppsoed to be able to, but couldn't because of poor planning.
The Texas looks like it'd have a heck of a time trying to do that as well.
(Couldn't find any info on it during my cursory search. Will have to do a more thorough search later.)

[jraven]

Hey good idea: I WILL run for President!
I'm not saying, "let's not offend them." There's a big difference between that and "let's throw down the gauntlet, let them know we're after them an provoke them." The Axis of Evil speech was great and enough...the comments in the Woodward book were unwise. Go back and look at the dates of this crisis. You will find much of their absolutely blatant in-your-face activity came after contents of that book were made public. GWB IS human and can make a mistake. His comments did not help our stragetical interests in the war, in taking on N Korea eventually. He helped speed up events.
Go back and find the date the book was released, when the stories about what he said came out, and when the current crisis with Korea heated up.
It did not really heat up until after his comments. They went into crisis mode in N Korea. I have no sympathy for N Korea or it's leadership....but even though I like GWB it must be said: his published comments did NOT help the situation or help us quietly prepare to deal with them later.