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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Lieutenant Commander Adolph Marix to Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, Commander, North Atlantic Fleet

U. S. S. SCORPION, (25)

Going from Daiquiri to Santiago de Cuba,

July 10, 1898.

Sir:-

     I have the honor to inform you that on our way from Daiquiri to Santiago de Cuba, the Securança signalled that she needed assistance on account of mutiny.

     We went close to her and sent an armed boats crew on board in charge of Lieut. Milton.1

     The mutiny was suppressed on board, and the five mutineers properly confined.2

Very respectfully,

A. Marix

Lieut-Com’dr., U.S.N.

Commanding.

Source Note: TLS, AFNRC, M625, roll 234. Addressed below close: “The Commander-in-Chief,/U.S.Naval Force, N.A.Station,/U.S.Flagship NEW YORK. Stamped in upper-right hand corner: “RECEIVED/FLAGSHIP N. A. Station/JUL 11 1898.” Docketed on separate sheet, which is divided into two parts by a fold: “U.S.S. SCORPION (25)/Going from Daiquiri to SantiagodeCuba/July 10th 1898./Marix, A./Lieut-Comdr, U.S.N./Comdg/Report of a mutiny on board/Securanza.” There is also a Bureau of Navigation stamp on that part of the sheet with the identification number “128827” in the middle of the stamp. Additional docketing on the right side of the sheet: “SEND URGENT/U.S. FLAGSHIP BROOKLYN/Off Santiago de Cuba/July 10, 1898/[SQUADRON COMMANDER?]/W.S. Schley/[Commanding?]/2nd Squadron, N A Fleet,/U.S. FLAGSHIP NEW YORK,/Off Santiago de Cuba/July 12 1898/FORWARDED BY DIRECTION/OF COMMANDER IN CHIEF/F E Chadwick/Flag Captain U.S.N./CHIEF OF STAFF.”

Footnote 1: Lt. John B. Milton.

Footnote 2: Nothing more is known about the mutiny or what happened to the mutineers. The steamer Securança, which had been used to transport Maj. Gen. William R. Shafter and his staff to Cuba, had been chartered from the New York and Cuba Steam Ship Company for $600 per day. http://www.spanamwar.com/transports.htm, Accessed on 2 February 2015.

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