and _Oregon_, appeared to
stand a good chance of getting finally away. The _New York_, rushing
back toward the battle, was still well astern. But the _Colon's_
speed, which had averaged 13.7 knots, slackened as her fire-room
force played out; and shortly after 1 p.m. she ran shoreward, opened
her Kingston valves, and went down after surrender. She had been
hit only 6 times.

In the first stage of the fight the little yacht _Gloucester_,
under Lieutenant Commander Wainwright, had dashed pluckily upon
the two destroyers, which were also under fire from the secondary
batteries of the big ships. The _Furor_ was sunk and the _Pluton_
driven ashore.

There is hardly a record in naval history of such complete destruction.
Of 2300 Spaniards, 1800 were rescued as prisoners from the burning
wrecks or from the Cuban guerillas on shore, 350 met their death,
and the rest escaped towards Santiago. The American loss consisted
of one man killed and one wounded on the _Brooklyn_. This ship,
which owing to its leading position had been the chief enemy target,
received 20 hits from shells or fragments, and the other vessels
altogether about as many more. An examination of the half-sunken
and fire-scarred Spanish hulks showed 42 hits out of 1300 rounds
from the American main batteries, or 3.2 per cent, and 73 from
secondary batteries. Probably these figures should be doubled to
give the actual number, but even so they revealed the need of
improvement in gunnery.

Sampson was right when he stated earlier in the campaign that the
destruction of the Spanish fleet would end the war. Santiago surrendered
a fortnight later without further fighting. An expeditionary force
under General Miles made an easy conquest of Puerto Rico. On August
12, a protocol of peace was signed, by the terms of which the United
States took over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (upon payment
of 20 million dollars), and Cuba became independent under American
protection. The war greatly strengthened the position of the United
States in the Caribbean, and gave her new interests and responsibilities
in the Pacific. In the possession of distant dependencies the nation
found a new motive for increased naval protection and for more
active concern in international affairs.

2. THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR

At the time when the United States acquired the Philippines, the
Far East was a storm center of international disturbance. Russia,
with the support of Germany and F