The story of the U.S.S. "Yosemite" in 1898, compiled from available records by Joseph S. Stringham.

THE U. S. S. "YOSEMITE"

On June 25th he sighted the St. Paul off the harbour of San Juan, and in
obedience to signal from Captain Sigsbee he went on board.
Sigsbee informed him that the St. Paul had arrived off San Juan on the
22nd of June, and about noon the same day he had been attacked by the
Spanish destroyer Terror.
Emory writes to his wife:
"OFF SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, July 1, 1898.
"The Terror is a vessel of about four hundred tons displacement, and the
same one that was in South American waters when the battleship Oregon
was making her cruise around the Horn, and was the cause of much anxiety
to our Government. Before leaving Santiago Admiral Sampson informed
me that the Terror was at San Juan, but that she must not be counted as
adding anything to the Spanish aggressive force, as it was reported her
boilers and machinery were in such bad condition that she had dismounted
her battery. This false information had been purposely circulated as the
Terror attacked the St. Paul with apparently undiminished speed and with
her fourteen pdr. Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns in full play. Fortunately the
St. Paul had excellent gunners on board. They did that day about the best
shooting I have ever heard of. The Terror was speeding about twenty-five
knots an hour towards the St. Paul, bows on and presented only a spot on
the ocean, yet at six thousand yards (about three miles) the Terror was
struck by three five-inch shells, one of her three smokestacks being carried
away and otherwise apparently much damaged. From the information since
obtained, it appears that three men were killed, and the plates above the
water line ruptured.
"Captain Sigsbee informed me that he would remain three days with me
before coaling up, at which time he hoped that more vessels would join the
blockade.
"As a most agreeable incident connected with my visit to the St. Paul,
I met there my old friend, S. Nicholson Kane, with whom so many pleasant
memories are connected. He graduated number one of my class in 1866,
and during the summer of that year commanded the yacht America,
aboard which his intimate friends served as officers, myself being one of
the number. An even more pleasant recollection is that he was the best
man at our wedding ten years later.
"On Sunday, June 26th, the English steamer Ravendale was boarded by
the St. Paul, after which Captain Sigsbee signalled to the Yosemite to come
within hail, and megaphoned me several messages."
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