A battle-ship of the
American navy; carries four 13-inch (67-ton) guns, eight 8-inch, four 6-inch, and thirty-one rapid-fire machine guns.
At the outbreak of hostilities with
Spain, the
Oregon was ordered from
San Francisco, where she was built, to the
Atlantic coast.
She left
San Francisco March 19, and arrived at
Callao, Peru, April 4, where she took on coal; reached
Sandy Point April 18, and again took on coal; reached
Rio de Janeiro April 30,
Bahia May 8,
Barbadoes May 18, and
Jupiter Inlet, Florida, May 24.
The entire distance run was 14,706 knots, at an expenditure of 4,155 tons of coal.
While in
Rio de Janeiro,
Captain Clark received word that the
Spanish torpedo-boat
Temerario had sailed from
Montevideo with the intention of
[
39]
destroying the
Oregon.
Captain Clark notified the
Brazilian authorities that if the
Temerario entered the harbor with hostile intention, she would be attacked; and at the same time left orders with the commander of the United States cruiser
Marietta to keep a search-light on the entrance to the harbor, and in case the
Temerario appeared, to notify her commander that if she approached within half a mile of the
Oregon she would be destroyed.
In the battle of
Santiago the speed of the
Oregon enabled her to take a front position in the chase in which she forced the
Cristobal Colon to run ashore to avoid destruction from the
Oregon's 13-inch shells.
Probably the presence of the
Oregon prevented the escape of the
Colon and, perhaps, the
Vizcaya.
After the conclusion of peace the
Oregon was ordered from New York to
Manila.
