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THE VOYAGE OF THE
_OREGON_
FROM SAN FRANCISCO
TO SANTIAGO IN
1898


_AS TOLD BY_
ONE OF THE CREW



_PRIVATELY PRINTED_
THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS
_BOSTON_
1908

[_One hundred and twenty-five copies printed_]




To the Reader


_Almost ten years have passed since the country followed, in scanty
telegram from port to port, the Oregon speeding down one side of a
continent and up the other to Bahia; then came two anxious, silent
weeks when apprehension and fear pictured four Spanish cruisers with a
pack of torpedo boats sailing out into the west athwart the lone ship's
course, the suspense ending only when tidings came of her arrival at
Jupiter Inlet; then off Santiago, after a month of waiting, there is
the outcoming of Cervera's squadron, when this splendid ship, with
steam all the time up, leaps to the front of her sisters of the fleet,
like an unleashed hound, and joins the historic company of the Bon
Homme Richard, the Constitution, the Hartford, in our naval annals.
From the start at the Golden Gate to the beaching of the Colon is a
succession of events full of thrilling merit and vitality which
official bickerings and envyings cannot change or obscure._

_The story has been told from the standpoint of the quarter-deck, the
court room, and the department bureau. Here we have the artless journal
of an unlettered sailor, written between decks, without the least
notion that it would ever be read apart from his own family circle. The
pages of his record give an insight into the mutual regard and
confidence existing between the captain and his crew which made the
voyage the memorable achievement that it was. Admiral Clark would be
made of stolid stuff were he indifferent to the enthusiasm and loyalty
manifest in the narrative in various ways, in none, however, more
hearty and sincere than in the endearing designations of the "old gent"
and "the old man." He was in fact fifty-four years of age when he
became captain of the Oregon. Shortly before, he had been on special
duty in the North Pacific at the head of a fleet of seven men-of-war,
at that time the largest cruising fleet in our navy since the conflict
with the Confederacy. Starting as midshipman at the Naval Academy in_
1860, _he had seen thirty-eight years of active and varied service in
all seas. In the contest with Spain the commanders of the various
warships were his associates at the academy. Sampson had been his
instructor there; Gridley, who opened the battle of Manila, and Cook,
who received the surrender of the Colon, were classmates; and Dayton,
who rendered distinguished service at San Juan, was a relative. In the
transition from wood to iron in naval architecture he has had command
in every type of fighting craft beginning with the wooden Ossipee, when
he took part at Mobile Bay in ramming the ironclad Tennessee, and, as
ensign in charge of the forward guns, was the first to exchange words
with the latter's commander as he came out of the casemate to surrender
his ship, and ending with the Oregon._

_The narrative which follows of the voyage from San Francisco to
Santiago in_ 1898 _was called to light by a communication of Admiral
Clark to the press in the winter of_ 1907 _relating to the Straits of
Magellan. The writer of the narrative, who was a member of the Oregon's
crew, sent it to his sisters through whom in consequence of reading the
Admiral's mention of that ship's passage of the Straits, it came to
him. The Admiral in turn showed it to friends, who insisted that copies
should be printed for private distribution._

JOHN ADAMS AIKEN

_Greenfield, Massachusetts_
_February_ 29, 1908




The Voyage of the OREGON


So we started on the 19th of March and I will try and give you some
idea of our trip on this side of the U.S. Capt McCommick got sick and
had to be releived to go on sick leif. Capt Clark was in comand of the
Monteray at the time and he was a young Capt too. there was no other
one around there at that time, so he was detailed to take comand of the
Oregon and a prowed man he was too, and we wer a prowed crew along with
him. he was glad he got the ship and we wer glad we got him. we knew he
was a good Seaman. any way he called us all aft on the quarter deck and
read out his orders and told us that we wer going towards south
America. I will now try and give you the