U.S.S. Winslow (TB-5):
Action at Cárdenas Bay - May 11, 1898
The Winslow moored in the Delaware River before the war.
USS Winslow (TB-5) was one of a swarm of American torpedo boats stationed around Cuba during the U.S. invasion of 1898. The 162-foot vessel, which approached a speed of 25 knots on trials, was part of a small but vigorous torpedo service in the U.S. Navy, operating seven torpedo boats at the time of the war. Winslow was of the Foote class, featuring whaleback fo'c'sle and rounded shoulders to shed spray, 2 widely spaced funnels (one boiler to each), and an overall look similar to early British torpedo boat destroyers. All the class were named for American naval heros; Winslow for the captain of the Civil War USS Kearsarge. At top, a nicely lithographed card of the contemporary USS Du Pont (named for a Civil War admiral) breasting the Atlantic wave; the artist has de-emphasized the arrow-like length of the ship's hull. Below, a profile of the USS Foote better shows the lethal length of her breed.
Specifications for the Foote class:
Dimensions: 161'6¾" x 16'½" x 5'0" Displacement: 142 tons. Armament: (3) 1-pdr guns, (3) 18" torpedo tubes. Propulsion: (2) coal-fired Mosher boilers; (2) vertical triple-expansion engines developing 2,000 IHP, shafted to twin screw. Speed: 24.82 kts. Crew: 20. Ships in class: Foote, Rodgers, Winslow (TB 3-5, respectively).
Metric Specifications:
Dimensions: 49.25m x 4.89m x 1.52m Displacement: 142 tons. Armament: (3) 1-pdr guns, (3) 450-mm torpedo tubes. Propulsion: (2) coal-fired Mosher boilers; (2) vertical triple-expansion engines developing 1472 kW, shafted to twin screw. Speed: 46 km/hr. Crew: 20.
Dimensions: 161'6¾" x 16'½" x 5'0" Displacement: 142 tons. Armament: (3) 1-pdr guns, (3) 18" torpedo tubes. Propulsion: (2) coal-fired Mosher boilers; (2) vertical triple-expansion engines developing 2,000 IHP, shafted to twin screw. Speed: 24.82 kts. Crew: 20. Ships in class: Foote, Rodgers, Winslow (TB 3-5, respectively).
Metric Specifications:
Dimensions: 49.25m x 4.89m x 1.52m Displacement: 142 tons. Armament: (3) 1-pdr guns, (3) 450-mm torpedo tubes. Propulsion: (2) coal-fired Mosher boilers; (2) vertical triple-expansion engines developing 1472 kW, shafted to twin screw. Speed: 46 km/hr. Crew: 20.
Badly mauled, Winslow is assisted by her squadron at Cárdenas Bay.
Cárdenas Bay: The squadron remained 1½ miles out, near inner islands, until it was time to rescue the TB.
When war was declared, Winslow was assigned patrol duty off Matanzas, Havana, and Cárdenas Bay on the north coast of Cuba -- the latter described as a great salt-water lagoon, some 25 mi in breadth by 6 tall, with water in the channel only 10-15 feet in depth. On May 11, 1898, under the command of Lt. John Bernadou, Winslow performed a reconnaissance of the Bay in search of mines; she found none, and returned to her squadron (consisting of the auxiliary cruiser Wilmington and new gunboat Machias, armed with 4-inch guns, plus the revenue cutter Hudson, a converted harbor tug) for further instructions.
She was ordered to go into the town wharves and capture one of the gunboats known to be based at the town -- an old-fashioned "cutting-out" operation -- while the other vessels stood off at a short distance. Around 1300 the TB led the ragtag flotilla to the bay, this time approaching insolently close to the town. There was a gray-painted vessel at the wharf, and the shallow-draft Winslow approached, blazing away with her 1-pounder popguns. These 'lead squirters' did little damage against the warship or the stone fortifications of the town, but land batteries opened up and hit Winslow, disabling her steering engine and backup steering system. She stayed in the fray, maneuvering by spinning one prop in reverse and the other ahead until the desired bearing was reached. Her siesta interrupted, the Spanish vessel returned fire but did not leave the wharf. She proved to be a naval gunboat armed with 3" guns. In short order a shell punctured one of Winslow's boilers, while a shell splinter pierced a cylinder, putting the port engine out of commission -- and with it the TB's makeshift capacity to maneuver.
Lt. Bernadou was wounded in the groin but, devising a makeshift tourniquet from a towel and inserting a 1-pound shell to tighten it, coolly continued directing the battle. Still firing gamely, the little Winslow now was all but disabled, although desperate efforts soon restored a degree of mobility. At this point the U.S. squadron intervened by closing the range. Their guns began to play around the scene of carnage and (combined with furious fire from the TB) took out the Spanish gunboat and batteries, firing the town. Winslow signaled for a tow and the Hudson approached and passed a line, withdrawing the combative little warship from the scene (illustration above).
Although little of strategic significance was accomplished that day, the Winslow was widely admired for her fiery fighting spirit. She was badly damaged and had sustained 5 killed and 3 wounded, more than one-third of the crew. Below left, the conning tower covered with shot impact dents - the bullets came through the other side with sufficient force to dent the interior thus. The TB was ordered to Key West under her own power for emergency repairs.
Five members of her crew had been killed in the fray: most prominently Ensign Worth Bagley, a handsome and promising young officer well regarded in the service. Bagley had been relaying steering instructions orally from bridge to engine room as the ship attempted to maneuver without functional steering. He was ripped apart by a Spanish shell just after the Winslow had secured the hawser that would drag her to safety. Since then Bagley's name has been immortalized through a succession of USN ships: a torpedo boat, two destroyers, and a guided-missile frigate. It is unknown whether the same courtesy was extended the oiler, cook, and 2 firemen also killed in the same blast. The Winslow's casualties that day accounted for nearly one-third of the U.S. Navy's total in the war. The Marines endured 6 fatalities in taking Guantánamo Bay, the only other comparable incident. The entire U.S. fleet suffered only 2 dead in whipping the Spanish at Santiago. The number of casualties on shore in this incident is unknown.
Less than ten years after the war with Spain, the U.S. was following Britain and Spain in developing the Torpedo Boat Destroyer -- nowadays abbreviated to Destroyer. While the destroyer reached its apogee as an escort and anti-submarine vessel, driven by turbine engines at speeds up to 35 knots, torpedo craft found their métier with the application of high-speed gasoline and diesel engines. The MAS Boats of the Italian navy -- powered with surplus, U.S.-made aircraft engines -- sank two Austrian dreadnoughts and a coastal monitor in WWI. They and the famous PT boats of the Pacific War could all claim descent from spunky TBs like the Winslow.
She was ordered to go into the town wharves and capture one of the gunboats known to be based at the town -- an old-fashioned "cutting-out" operation -- while the other vessels stood off at a short distance. Around 1300 the TB led the ragtag flotilla to the bay, this time approaching insolently close to the town. There was a gray-painted vessel at the wharf, and the shallow-draft Winslow approached, blazing away with her 1-pounder popguns. These 'lead squirters' did little damage against the warship or the stone fortifications of the town, but land batteries opened up and hit Winslow, disabling her steering engine and backup steering system. She stayed in the fray, maneuvering by spinning one prop in reverse and the other ahead until the desired bearing was reached. Her siesta interrupted, the Spanish vessel returned fire but did not leave the wharf. She proved to be a naval gunboat armed with 3" guns. In short order a shell punctured one of Winslow's boilers, while a shell splinter pierced a cylinder, putting the port engine out of commission -- and with it the TB's makeshift capacity to maneuver.Lt. Bernadou was wounded in the groin but, devising a makeshift tourniquet from a towel and inserting a 1-pound shell to tighten it, coolly continued directing the battle. Still firing gamely, the little Winslow now was all but disabled, although desperate efforts soon restored a degree of mobility. At this point the U.S. squadron intervened by closing the range. Their guns began to play around the scene of carnage and (combined with furious fire from the TB) took out the Spanish gunboat and batteries, firing the town. Winslow signaled for a tow and the Hudson approached and passed a line, withdrawing the combative little warship from the scene (illustration above).
Although little of strategic significance was accomplished that day, the Winslow was widely admired for her fiery fighting spirit. She was badly damaged and had sustained 5 killed and 3 wounded, more than one-third of the crew. Below left, the conning tower covered with shot impact dents - the bullets came through the other side with sufficient force to dent the interior thus. The TB was ordered to Key West under her own power for emergency repairs.
Five members of her crew had been killed in the fray: most prominently Ensign Worth Bagley, a handsome and promising young officer well regarded in the service. Bagley had been relaying steering instructions orally from bridge to engine room as the ship attempted to maneuver without functional steering. He was ripped apart by a Spanish shell just after the Winslow had secured the hawser that would drag her to safety. Since then Bagley's name has been immortalized through a succession of USN ships: a torpedo boat, two destroyers, and a guided-missile frigate. It is unknown whether the same courtesy was extended the oiler, cook, and 2 firemen also killed in the same blast. The Winslow's casualties that day accounted for nearly one-third of the U.S. Navy's total in the war. The Marines endured 6 fatalities in taking Guantánamo Bay, the only other comparable incident. The entire U.S. fleet suffered only 2 dead in whipping the Spanish at Santiago. The number of casualties on shore in this incident is unknown.
Less than ten years after the war with Spain, the U.S. was following Britain and Spain in developing the Torpedo Boat Destroyer -- nowadays abbreviated to Destroyer. While the destroyer reached its apogee as an escort and anti-submarine vessel, driven by turbine engines at speeds up to 35 knots, torpedo craft found their métier with the application of high-speed gasoline and diesel engines. The MAS Boats of the Italian navy -- powered with surplus, U.S.-made aircraft engines -- sank two Austrian dreadnoughts and a coastal monitor in WWI. They and the famous PT boats of the Pacific War could all claim descent from spunky TBs like the Winslow.
The Winslow was repaired at length in Key West, Mobile, and finally at the New York Navy Yard. The war was over by the time she was fit to return to duty (above - at Philadelphia), but not the glorious parades and fêtes that followed victory. After 1901 Winslow was laid up more often than not. Following a stint with the Massachusetts Naval Militia in 1909, the ship was struck the following year and sold in 1911 to one Herb Hanson of New York City.
The USS Foote (TB-3), name ship of the class, was an identical sister ship of the Winslow.
