WITH THE BATTLE FLEET [Illustration: _Courtesy of Collier's Weekly_ In the Straits of Magellan] WITH THE BATTLE FLEET CRUISE OF THE SIXTEEN BATTLESHIPS OF THE UNITED STATES ATLANTIC FLEET FROM HAMPTON ROADS TO THE GOLDEN GATE DECEMBER, 1907-MAY, 1908 BY FRANKLIN MATTHEWS ILLUSTRATED BY HENRY REUTERDAHL (Courtesy of Collier's Weekly) 1909 B. W. HUEBSCH NEW YORK Copyright 1909 by B. W. HUEBSCH 1st Printing, October, 1908 2d Printing, December, 1908 3d Printing, February, 1909 TO REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD WAINWRIGHT, U.S.N., (Captain of the U.S.S. Louisiana on the Atlantic Fleet's Cruise to the Pacific) AN ABLE OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. FROM HAMPTON ROADS TO TRINIDAD 1 II. CHRISTMAS WITH THE FLEET 25 III. TRINIDAD TO RIO DE JANEIRO 47 IV. NEPTUNE AHOY! 64 V. BRAZIL'S ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME 86 VI. NATIONAL SALUTES AT SEA 114 VII. PUNTA ARENAS, THE WORLD'S JUMPING-OFF PLACE 135 VIII. THROUGH MAGELLAN STRAIT 164 IX. IN AND OUT OF VALPARAISO HARBOR 182 X. PERU'S WARM-HEARTED GREETING 198 XI. TARGET SHOOTING AT MAGDALENA BAY 228 XII. ROUTINE OF A BATTLESHIP 254 XIII. SOCIAL LIFE ON AN AMERICAN MAN-O'-WAR 282 XIV. END AND LESSONS OF THE CRUISE TO THE PACIFIC 309 INTRODUCTORY On December 16, 1907, there sailed from Hampton Roads, bound for San Francisco, a fleet of sixteen American battleships, the most powerful collection of warships ever assembled under the American flag and about to undertake the longest cruise that any fleet of any nation had ever made. It was ordered to make this journey of about 14,000 miles by President Roosevelt, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy by virtue of his office, for reasons which he did not deem wise to make public fully and which up to this writing have not been revealed. In his annual message submitted to Congress a few days before the fleet sailed the President designated the fleet, still known officially as the U. S. Atlantic Fleet, as the Battle Fleet.