Secretary of the Navy John D. Long to Rear Admiral George Dewey, Commander, Asiatic Squadron
From. . . Secretary of Navy.
To. . . COM’D’R-IN-CHIEF
Date. . . May 10, 1898.
Subject. . . Submarine mines.
Spanish squadron.
Received at Cavite, May 19.
In case of attack by a superior force would you desire submarine mines, if so, how many and what length of cable, et-cetera.
About 50 mines with equipments in readiness here.1
Whereabouts four Spanish armored cruisers is uncertain.
Left Cape Verde Islands on April 29th.2
Source Note: Cy, DLC-MSS, PGD.
Footnote 1: Dewey did not believe that Manila Bay was conducive to the effective deployment of submarine mines and discouraged Long from sending them. See: Dewey to Long, 20 May 1898.
Footnote 2: Long is referring to the Spanish fleet commanded by Adm. Pascual Cervera y Topete that departed the Cape Verde Islands for the Caribbean.
