“I enclose, for the information of the department, copies of orders and memorandums issued from time to time, relating to the manner of maintaining the blockade. When all the work was done so well, it is difficult to discriminate in praise. “The object of the blockade of Cervera’s squadron was fully accomplished, and each individual bore well his part in it, the commodore in command of the second division, the captains of ships, their officers, and men. “13. The fire of the battle-ships was powerful and destructive, and the resistance of the Spanish squadron was, in great part, broken almost before they had got beyond the range of their own force. “The fine speed of the _Oregon_ enabled her to take a front position in the chase, and the _Cristobal Colon_ did not give up until the _Oregon_ had thrown a 13-inch shell beyond her. This performance adds to the already brilliant record of this fine battle-ship, and speaks highly of the skill and care with which her admirable efficiency has been maintained during a service unprecedented in the history of vessels of her class. “The _Brooklyn’s_ westerly blockading position gave her an advantage in the chase which she maintained to the end, and she employed her fine battery with telling effect. [Illustration: U. S. S. BROOKLYN.] “The _Texas_ and the _New York_ were gaining on the chase during the last hour, and, had any accident befallen the _Brooklyn_ or the _Oregon_, would have speedily overhauled the _Cristobal Colon_. “From the moment the Spanish vessel exhausted her first burst of speed, the result was never in doubt. She fell, in fact, far below what might reasonably have been expected of her. “Careful measurements of time and distance give her an average speed, from the time she cleared the harbour mouth until the time she was run on shore at Rio Tarquino, of 13.7 knots. “Neither the _New York_ nor the _Brooklyn_ stopped to couple up their forward engines, but ran out of the chase with one pair, getting steam, of course, as rapidly as possible on all boilers. To stop to couple up the forward engines would have meant a delay of fifteen minutes, or four miles in the chase. “14. Several of the ships were struck, the _Brooklyn_ more often than the others, but very light material injury was done, the greatest being aboard the _Iowa_. “Our loss was one man killed and one wounded, both on the _Brooklyn_. It is difficult to explain the immunity from loss of life or injury to ships in a combat with modern vessels of the best type, but Spanish gunnery is poor at the best, and the superior weight and accuracy of our fire speedily drove the men from their guns and silenced their fire. “This is borne out by the statements of prisoners and by observation. The Spanish vessels, as they dashed out of the harbour, were covered with the smoke from their own guns, but this speedily diminished in volume, and soon almost disappeared.