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166 guns in our battery let go together, and the ten 1,400-pound shells soared into the heavens, visible for a few seconds to the eye. There was a magnificent burst of water at the German flagship, and, as it fell away, through my glasses I could see that her after smokestack was gone. The ragged outline of her deck, moreover, showed where the shells had burst inboard, lifting the deck, and apparently jamming the after turret.

And when the flagship had spoken, every ship down our line burst forth in flame and fury. The Germans fired with greater frequency and the storm of their shells, striking the water, raised such a mass of broken spray that, at times, I could see no farther than the second ship astern.

The American ships fired with greater deliberation, and, evidently, with greater accuracy. Moreover, against a