1898: Camara's Raiders

During the Spanish-American War, and prior to learning of the defeat of Montojo's squadron at Manila Bay by Commodore Dewey, these were the orders given to Admiral Camara, who later commanded an abortive relief squadron that sailed to Suez, heard about Cervera's defeat at Santiago, and returned to Spain:

May 27, 1898

Honored Sir:

The equipment of the squadron under your excellency's worthy command having been completed, and the ships supplied with provisions and coal, you will arrange for its immediate departure for the harbor of Las Palmas, where without loss of time you will replenish the coal consumed and take whatever quantity of provisions you may deem necessary, according to the respective purposes for which the different units are intended. At Las Palmas you will form the squadron into three divisions. The first, composed of the battle-ship Carlos V, cruisers Rapido, Patriota, and Meteoro, and despatch-boat Giralda, will remain under your excellency's immediate command.The second division, composed of the battle-ships Pelayo and Vitoria and destroyers Osado, Audaz, and Proserpina, will be placed under the orders of the senior captain, the commander of the Pelayo, Captain Jose Ferrandiz y Nino. The third division, of which the auxiliary cruisers Buenos Aires, Antonio Lopez, and Alfonso XII will form part, will be commanded by Captain Jose Barrasa y Fernandez de Castro.

[Leaving with all the ships and taking care to conceal their final true direction;] the first division, under the command of your excellency, will shape its course for the Bermudas; and at a proper distance from those islands you will detach a fast vessel to acquire at Hamilton all possible information, besides such as the government will communicate to you through our consul, as to the location, number, and quality of the hostile forces distributed along the Atlantic coast [the rest of the division to remain out of sight of the Bermudas].

Taking into account the information you may acquire and eluding an encounter with superior forces, your excellency will choose such point on the United States coasts as you may deem best adapted—Charleston, if possible—to carry out from south to north a series of hostile acts, in the energy of which you will be guided by circumstances, against fortified positions as well as against such places as, owing to their industrial, military, or commercial importance, will justify the operation. . . . Key West being the enemy's principal base of operations, the forces detached to oppose your operations will follow you instead of going to meet you, as would otherwise be the case.

Your excellency will determine to what point the hostilities should be carried, remembering that the object of hostilities is not only to make reprisals for the enemy's unjustified acts on our own coasts, but principally to call his attention toward the north, dividing his forces, and thus facilitating the movements of the third division and at the same time those of Admiral Cervera's squadron. You might find it convenient (but this is not imposed on you as a duty) to go up north so far as to permit you to detach a cruiser to Halifax in order that Lieutenant Ramon Carranza, who is assigned to Canada, may give you such information as he may have acquired beforehand.

Having accomplished on the United States coasts the object indicated, and following the route which offers the greatest security, you will try, unless reasons of greater importance should prevent, to pass north of the island of Mariguana or Turk's Island, and collect at the latter the information which the government will take care to forward to you there.

From that favorable position you may proceed at your discretion to the southern coast of Cuba, around Cape Maysi; and enter Santiago harbor; or following said coast, enter Havana harbor; or passing north of the keys, enter the harbor of San Juan de Puerto Rico. Any prizes you may be able to capture on this expedition you will despatch to the Peninsula with a suitable prize crew on board, or incorporate in your division as the case may be. If the services such prizes can render do not compensate for the trouble they require, it will be better to get rid of them by sinking them or setting them on fire, after trans-shipping whatever you may deem serviceable, in any event the personnel and flags, the portable armament, and the ship's papers.

As to the second division; in order that its separation from the rest of the squadron may remain unknown as long as possible, and also in order that it may be in a position to reach speedily, if need be, any given point of the Peninsula or Canaries, where its defensive action may be required, it will cruise between parallels 30 and 36 north latitude, the ninth meridian west, and the coast of Africa, for ten or twelve days from the date when it begins to act independently, which is probably the time it will take your excellency to reach the United States coast, after which the second division will proceed to Cadiz to receive further orders.

The third division, upon leaving your excellency's flag-ship, will proceed to the latitude of Cape St. Roque, to cut off the route of the vessels plying between the eastern coast of the United States and South America, or the Pacific. . . .

In case of injury or other unfortunate circumstance making it necessary for ships of this division to seek a port, you will see, provided there is possibility of choice, that preference be given to the French colonies. . . .

If the vicissitudes of the voyage give your excellency an opportunity to join Admiral Cervera's squadron, you will do so at once, and the forces will remain united until the government decides that it is expedient to separate them again, or until both commanders, or in case of difference of opinion, the senior, should deem such separation necessary.

To summarize:

- Camara was to take a force of one armored cruiser, three auxiliary cruisers, and a dispatch boat to Bermuda, and then raid the US Atlantic Coast as he saw fit from Charleston north to Maine, with latitude to stop in Halifax or further instructions. After that, he was to steam to Cuba to meet with Cervera at Santiago or Havana.

- Another division consisting of the battleships Pelayo and Vitoria and other vessels was to cruise off the Canaries to defend the Spanish coast against an American foray into the East Atlantic.

- A third force of three auxiliary cruisers was to raid American shipping off of the coast of Brazil.

What if Camara was not sent on his abortive mission to relieve the Philippines, and instead deployed his ships as laid out here? Assume that it takes time to ready this force, and that they do not depart Spain until June 15, with the first division under Camara's command appearing off of Charleston roughly a week to ten days later. What happens next?
 
I'd venture that Spain will still not have a shot at victory. If anything, the death of American civilians and attacks on American turf will only make the war so much more vicious. Figure a much harsher treaty ending it?
 
I'd venture that Spain will still not have a shot at victory. If anything, the death of American civilians and attacks on American turf will only make the war so much more vicious. Figure a much harsher treaty ending it?

Roberto

Could it be much harsher without much heavier American commitment? They would need to carry the war to Europe to do more damage to the Spanish and that would require markedly heavier commitments to the war. Would the US have the military and logistical establishment to do that at this point? Especially since such an intervention might trigger some European support for Spain.

Steve
 
I'd venture that Spain will still not have a shot at victory. If anything, the death of American civilians and attacks on American turf will only make the war so much more vicious. Figure a much harsher treaty ending it?
I'd disagree-- at the outset of the war, I don't think the government nor the public were expecting as much rapid progress in the war as they got IOTL. A Spanish raid, no matter how ineffective, would scare the bejeezus out of Atlantic merchant interests and give fodder to antiexpansionists who thought the whole war daft from the get-go.

Of course, a Spanish raid on the coast would be ineffective. Many of the Spanish ships weren't fully armed, nor were their engines in top shape. A man could sneeze and sink half the Spanish navy.
 
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I'd disagree-- at the outset of the war, I don't think the government nor the public were expecting as much rapid progress in the war as they got IOTL.


True, the actual war was very different from what the public thought it would be. Hearst et. al. had been selling a crusade to liberate Cuba, yet the first battles were fought in the Philippines.

Although it seems impossible, even fewer Americans in 1898 than in 2010 could find the Philippines on a map.

A Spanish raid, no matter how ineffective, would scarce the bejeezus out of Atlantic merchant interests...

Not exactly. There had been various "Foreign Navy Raids East Coast And Wrecks Complete Havoc" scares since the 1870s at least and some of them even involved Spain, so the public was at least aware of the possibility.

Of course, reading about potential attacks is not quite the same as seeing coastal shipping and towns burning.

Anyway, many state army and naval militia units were activated before the war began solely for coastal defense purposes. Fort Knox on the Penobscot River in Maine found itself manned by a heavy artillery regiment from Connecticut for example.

As for Atlantic merchant interests, they did what they had done nearly 40 years prior during the Civil War: They'd re-flag their vessels so that they could not be legitimate prizes. The Confederacy's raiders real effect on Union merchant shipping wasn't the seizure/destruction of that shipping, but rather the re-flagging of that shipping which, thanks to US law at the time, meant the vessel could not be easily returned to US ownership.

This means Camara's squadron would not be cutting trade links across the Atlantic between the US and Europe. Instead, they'd be destroying coastal trade which was internal to the US. And there was plenty of that to destroy.

... and give fodder to antiexpansionists who thought the whole war daft from the get-go.

There were plenty who thought the war was daft, but the anti-expansionist/anti-imperialist slant on the issue didn't develop until after the war when the subject of annexing Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and all the other effected islands was raised.

Regardless of their opinions regarding the causes of the war, once US civilians are killed, ships are sunk, and towns burned/bombarded, any criticism about the war will be muted if not extinguished.

Do not make the mistake of presuming 2010 attitudes for the people of 1898. They hadn't been subjected to roughly 50 year media/educational drumbeat of "US/Western World Always Bad/Wrong About Nearly Everything" we have. In fact, the media/educational drumbeat they'd been hearing was almost the exact opposite and just as wrong.

As evil and idiotic as it seems to us, there was a strong and unapologetic racist component to the war. Among the "crimes" committed by Spain and played up by the yellow press were strip searches of "white" women by "Spaniards".

Of course, a Spanish raid on the coast would be ineffective. Many of the Spanish ships weren't fully armed, nor were their engines in top shape. A man could sneeze and sink half the Spanish navy.

Many of the vessels tasked by the US with harbor defense were Civil War monitors. US forts will have large numbers of guns, the fort I mentioned earlier had well over 100 before they were gathered up for a WW2 scrap drive, but those guns will be Civil War vintage muzzle loaders too. Neither side will have a technological edge.

Camara's real handicap is going to be coal. While Britain as a neutral will have let him coal at Halifax or the Bahamas, those same rules will mean he can only send one ship in at a time and, after the first departs, must observe a waiting before he can in the next.

I can see a Camara raid causing more noise than anything else and leading to a slightly harsher peace treaty. By harsher I'd think the US would point to the damages caused by the raid in order to pay Spain less money for the transfer of territories than in the OTL.

Of course, such a raid would mean a boost in spending for the US Navy, as if that would be needed.

On a side note, the Spanish squadron sent to raid US shipping off Brazil might encounter Joshua Slocum, who was finishing his 'round-the-world solo voyage aboard Spray, or USS Oregon, which was redeploying from the Pacific.

Slocum and Oregon actually crossed paths, which was how Slocum heard of the war. The battleship asked him if he'd seen any Spanish warships and, after replying no, the old salt suggested that Spray and Oregon travel together for mutual defense!
 
Regardless of their opinions regarding the causes of the war, once US civilians are killed, ships are sunk, and towns burned/bombarded, any criticism about the war will be muted if not extinguished.

Do not make the mistake of presuming 2010 attitudes for the people of 1898. They hadn't been subjected to roughly 50 year media/educational drumbeat of "US/Western World Always Bad/Wrong About Nearly Everything" we have. In fact, the media/educational drumbeat they'd been hearing was almost the exact opposite and just as wrong.
I could've sworn that Carl Schurz & co. were making pains to push an anti-expansionist agenda even before Congress issued a declaration of war. It wasn't so much a "The West Is Wrong About Everything!" line of rhetoric as it was "It'd be kind of weird for a fomer colonial state such as ourselves to have colonies" or "Our role is simply not that of an imperial power". It was anti-imperialism from isolationism and republicanism, not any anti-"Western Powers" sentiment.

A raid with losses wouldn't conflict with their republican/isolationist ideals. Indeed, I'd figure that a loss would be used as justification for isolationism. "See, we shouldn't be doing this! America was not made for overseas ventures! We'll be punished like this every time we assert ourselves! Woe! Gnashing of teeth! &c.!"

Many of the vessels tasked by the US with harbor defense were Civil War monitors. US forts will have large numbers of guns, the fort I mentioned earlier had well over 100 before they were gathered up for a WW2 scrap drive, but those guns will be Civil War vintage muzzle loaders too. Neither side will have a technological edge.
Point taken. The US defenders will have the home territory advantage, of course, but those monitors were rotten at steaming on anything remotely similar to the open seas.
On a side note, the Spanish squadron sent to raid US shipping off Brazil might encounter Joshua Slocum, who was finishing his 'round-the-world solo voyage aboard Spray, or USS Oregon, which was redeploying from the Pacific.

Slocum and Oregon actually crossed paths, which was how Slocum heard of the war. The battleship asked him if he'd seen any Spanish warships and, after replying no, the old salt suggested that Spray and Oregon travel together for mutual defense!
If the squardon managed to catch the Oregon (with or without Spray), surely they'd be able to thrash her-- even at great expense to themselves, right? Sheer numbers would weigh heavily in their favor.
 
I could've sworn that Carl Schurz & co. were making pains to push an anti-expansionist agenda even before Congress issued a declaration of war.


As I pointed out with regards to the public being sold on the war for the sake of the Cuba, only to be mystified when the first battles occurred in the Philippines, "expansionism" was among the "reasons" for the war. Liberating Cuba was the reason, not colonizing the Philippines, grabbing Guam, grabbing Puerto Rico, etc.

While Schurz & Co. were correct in some of their suspicions, the war wasn't sold to the public as a land grab. What happened after the war is besides the point because the results of the war were mind boggling to even the war's biggest boosters.

"Liberating" Cuba? Sure. Grabbing Puerto Rico? Just another part of Spain's Western Hemisphere empire. Owning the Philippines? WTF? Where the hell are they?

It wasn't so much a "The West Is Wrong About Everything!" line of rhetoric as it was "It'd be kind of weird for a fomer colonial state such as ourselves to have colonies" or "Our role is simply not that of an imperial power". It was anti-imperialism from isolationism and republicanism, not any anti-"Western Powers" sentiment.

And, once the war was over, that thinking almost completely won out. There's the Platt Amendment which forbid the de jure, if not the de facto, annexation of Cuba and the decision to keep the Philippines was extremely contentious. The decision to keep the Philippines basically came down to a realpolitik concerns about who would grab them after the US left.

A raid with losses wouldn't conflict with their republican/isolationist ideals. Indeed, I'd figure that a loss would be used as justification for isolationism. "See, we shouldn't be doing this! America was not made for overseas ventures! We'll be punished like this every time we assert ourselves! Woe! Gnashing of teeth! &c.!"

"Overseas" doesn't apply to Cuba and Cuba was the "reason" given the public for the war. Cuba was Monroe Doctrine/Western Hemisphere/No More Empires type stuff. Cuba was a case of the US kicking an empire out and that fits republican/isolationist ideals perfectly.

It's when we add the Philippines, a territory very few people knew would be in play in the event of war, that everything goes pear shaped.

Saying the public is going to start screaming "You SOBs!!! You got us bombarded by a Spanish squadron just so you could grab the Philippines!??!" is like putting the cart before the horse. From the point of view of the folks in 1898 the Philippines hasn't been grabbed yet. Dewey just defeated a Spanish squadron there and the US has brought Aguinaldo back from Hong Kong. There are no US troops with thousands of miles, let alone on Philippine soil, and Manila won't surrender until mid-August. As far as the public knows the war isn't about grabbing the Philippines, it's about liberating Cuba.

Of course, after the war is over, the public looks around and the Philippines has been grabbed, but they don't know that at the time Camara's squadron is shooting at Charleston in June.

If the squardon managed to catch the Oregon (with or without Spray), surely they'd be able to thrash her-- even at great expense to themselves, right? Sheer numbers would weigh heavily in their favor.

Depends on speed, clean hulls, coal supplies, etc. Fire control in this period is absolutely wretched and torpedoes are a crap shoot. I've seen the situation gamed before and it doesn't seem to be a foregone conclusion for either side.
 
The squadron dispatched to the South American coast which I assume is the one that would be "catching" Oregon would not be Cervera's, but three very weak auxiliary cruisers. If they ran into the American battleship, they would certainly flee.
 
The squadron dispatched to the South American coast which I assume is the one that would be "catching" Oregon would not be Cervera's...


Who said they'd be Cevera's?

The eighth paragraph of the orders you posted state:

The third division, upon leaving your excellency's flag-ship, will proceed to the latitude of Cape St. Roque, to cut off the route of the vessels plying between the eastern coast of the United States and South America, or the Pacific. . . .

... but three very weak auxiliary cruisers. If they ran into the American battleship, they would certainly flee.

Possibly, yes. Certainly? I don't know.
 
Who said they'd be Cevera's?

Possibly, yes. Certainly? I don't know.

The scenario typically discussed is Cervera's, so I wanted to clarify that.

The three auxiliary cruisers in question are the Buenos Aires, Alfonso XIII, and Antonio Lopez.

Antonio Lopez: 2 120mm, 4 87mm, 14 kts

Buenos Aires: never armed, used as transport

Alfonso XII: never armed, used as blockade runner

None are fitted for torpedoes that would make an attack on Oregon plausible.

It is a certainty that they would not desire to fight. Oregon stumbling on them and giving chase is another thing altogether.
 
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