Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/265

264 made from Puget Sound to Sand Key, Florida, in the Spring of 1898. Needed by the Government to assist in destroying the Spanish fleet in Cuba, the "Oregon," commanded by Captain Charles E. Clark, left Puget Sound on March 6, San Francisco on March 19, and arrived at Sand Key on May 26, a distance of 18,112 miles, equal to two-thirds of the distance around the globe. The battleship made 4,726 miles of the trip without a stop for any purpose. To this day this is the best distance record ever made by a battleship. The Oregon arrived at its destination, as its officers officially reported, "without a loose bolt or screw out of order;" at

By courtesy of Harper Brothers, New York

UNITED STATES BATTLE-SHIP "OREGON"

the beginning of the battle of Santiago; and had the honor of firing the first shot in the contest which sealed the fate of the Spanish navy. The engines were 11,037 horse-power, and while larger ships have since been built and the "Oregon" is of a make now discarded, no modern ship has yet equalled its splendid record made during a naval crisis. At the launching of the battleship "Oregon," Joaquin Miller wrote: