The Battle of Manila Bay Port of Subic

on 25 april 1898, commodore george dewey, commander of u.s. asiatic fleet, received word war spain had been declared , ordered leave hong kong , attack spanish fleet in manila bay.

in philippines, rear admiral patricio montojo, realizing subic bay provide more defensible position cavite, ordered smaller ships , batteries in manila bay resist dewey s fleet , deny them entrance manila bay. other units use subic bay sally port, attack american fleet s rear , cut off supplies. on april 26, montojo arrived @ subic bay aboard reina christina, 7 other ships.

on morning of april 27, castilla towed northeast of grande island control western entrance subic bay. eastern entrance, between grande , chiquita islands, had been blocked scuttling of san quentin , 2 other vessels. on grande island, 4 six-inch (15.2 cm) guns had been shipped sangley point not yet installed. meanwhile, cable-laying ship, commandeered lay mines ended putting 4 of 15 available mines in place.

in hong kong, dewey purposely delayed sailing until received news u.s. consul @ manila, oscar f. williams, information strength , positions of spanish fleet. williams told dewey montojo , fleet had sailed subic bay.

on april 30, dewey sighted islands of luzon , ordered boston , concord sail @ full speed subic bay hunt enemy ships. after seeing no enemy vessels @ subic, boston , concord signaled olympia of findings , rejoined squadron underway manila.

dawn of may 1, 1898, american fleet entered manila bay , once ships closed within 5,000 yards (4,600 m) of spanish fleet, dewey ordered captain of olympia fire when ready. montojo s fleet totally destroyed, losing 167 men , wounding 214. americans suffered handful of injuries , no casualties.