Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Secretary of the Navy John D. Long to Captain Charles E. Clark

Translation:

Washington, April 6, 1898,

Oregon, Callao, Peru.

     Proceed at once to Rio Janeiro or Montevideo. The Spanish torpedo boat Temerario is in Montevideo. Marietta has been ordered to proceed to Sandy Point Patagonia1 to arrange for coal.  How many tons of coal will you require for Marietta and the Oregon to proceed together. Keep secret your destination.  Keep secret this message.2

                                                Long     

Source Note: Df, DNA, RG 45, Entry 28.

Footnote 1: Patagonia is a South American region shared by Argentina and Chile. Sandy Point is the English translation for Puntas Arenas, the capital of Chile's southernmost region.

Footnote 2: This message was in response to a recommendation from Capt. Clark that the gunboat Marietta escort Oregon to U.S. territorial waters. Oregon left had San Francisco on 7 April. See: Clark to Long, 6 April 1898; and Report of the Bureau of Navigation; 1898, 48.

Related Content