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

THE U. S. S. "YOSEMITE"

supervised by Chief Master-at-Arms Charles F. Hammond
(Jimmy-Legs), and much bargaining and trading were carried
on by some, in order to obtain more than one bottle.
Two sharks were caught at sea by trolling with iron hooks
forged on board and baited with salt pork. After landing
these fish on deck, they were cut to pieces and some attempt
made to cook them. The general verdict was that shark meat
could not be called a delicacy and, in fact, was unpalatable.
Sawing-off a Cannon
During the battle off San Juan, the activity of the gun
crews was amazing; the men seemed to have a mad desire to
serve the guns with all possible speed. The witnesses of this
engagement who were on the shore ramparts have said that
the "Yosemite" seemed to be a perpetual blaze of discharging
cannon. The five-inch gun on the spar deck, port quarter,
was fired so rapidly that it did not have time to cool off
between shots. This caused the end of the muzzle to swell
and jammed a projectile on its way out, causing an armorpiercing shell to explode prematurely, after leaving the mouth,
of the gun. In consequence, the gun was rendered useless
until a regular "Yankee" trick was played on it, by sawing
off about three feet of the swollen end. The work was done
with hack saws and required teams of men working 'in relays
for thirty-six hours. The object was to prevent the enemy
from knowing that a gun in our battery had been crippled,
and to make it possible to fire it any way, without regard to
range.
Trophies
Thirty years after the war, the surviving members of the
"Yosemite" crew, presented the Michigan Naval Reserves,
with two silver shields beautifully mounted on mahogany
backs. One shield contains the names and ratings of the
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