The concussion from the 8-inch guns on the poop shattered the whaleboats, and they had to be cut adrift. A fragment of a shell that burst over the quarter-deck cut the signal halliards which Lieutenant Brumby held in his hand. On the _Boston_ a shell came through a port-hole in Ensign Doddridge’s stateroom, and wrecked it badly. The explosion set a fire which was quickly put out. Another shell struck the port hammock netting, where it burst, setting fire to the hammocks. This was also soon extinguished. Still another shell struck the _Boston’s_ foremast, cutting a great gash in it. It came within twenty feet of Captain Wildes on the bridge. The _Raleigh_ was forced inshore by the strong current, and carried directly upon the bows of two Spanish cruisers. By all the rules of warfare she should have been sunk; but instead, her commander delivered two raking broadsides as she steamed back into place. Three times the American ships passed back and forth, opening first with one broadside and then with another as the ship swung around, and then the _Reina Christina_, black smoke pouring from her stacks, and a vapour as of wool coming from the steam-pipes, gallantly sallied out to meet the _Olympia_. Between the two flag-ships ensued a duel, in which the Spaniard was speedily worsted to such a degree that she was literally forced to turn and make for the shore. As she swung around, with her stern directly toward the _Olympia_, an 8-inch shell struck her squarely, and the explosive must have travelled directly through the ill-fated craft until it reached the after boiler, where it exploded, ripping up the decks, and vomiting forth showers of iron fragments and portions of dismembered human bodies. A gunboat came out from behind the Cavite pier, and made directly for the _Olympia_. In less than five minutes she was in a sinking condition; as she turned, a shell struck her just inside the stern railing, and she disappeared beneath the waves as if crushed by some titanic force. Navigator Calkins of the _Olympia_ had soundings taken, and told Commodore Dewey that he could take the ship farther in toward the Spanish fleet. “Take her in, then,” the commodore replied. The ship moved up to within two thousand yards of the Spanish fleet. This brought the smaller guns into effective play. The rain of shell upon the doomed Spaniards was terrific. The _Castilla_ was in flames from stem to stern. Black smoke poured up from the decks of the _Isla de Cuba_, and on the flag-ship fire was completing the work of destruction begun by the American shells. It was 7.35 A. M. when the battle, which began at 5.41, came to a temporary close. The first round was concluded. There was yet ample time in which to finish the work so well begun, and from the flag-ship _Olympia_ went up the signal: “Cease firing and follow.” The fleet was headed for the opposite shore, and, once partially beyond range, “mess-gear” was sounded.