Battle of Manila Bay (1898)

Battle of Manila Bay
Part of the Spanish–American War
Contemporary colored print, showing USS Olympia in the left foreground, leading the U.S. Asiatic Squadron against the Spanish fleet off Cavite. A vignette portrait of Rear Admiral George Dewey is featured in the lower left.
Date 1 May 1898 Location Near Manila, Philippines Result Decisive U.S. victory
Belligerents
United States	Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
George Dewey	Patricio Montojo
Strength
Engaged Forces: 4 protected cruisers 2 gunboats Unengaged Forces: 1 revenue cutter 2 transports	Engaged Forces: 2 protected cruisers 4 unprotected cruisers 2 gunboats Unengaged Forces: 1 cruiser 3 gunboats, 1 transport Shore defenses 6 batteries 3 forts
Casualties and losses
1 dead (due to heatstroke), and 9 wounded 1 protected cruiser damaged	77 dead and 271 wounded 2 protected cruisers sunk, 5 unprotected cruisers sunk, 1 transport sunk

The Battle of Manila Bay took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo. The battle took place in Manila Bay in the Philippines, and was the first major engagement of the Spanish–American War. The battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history.

Americans living on the West Coast of the United States feared a Spanish attack at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War. Only a few U.S. Navy warships, led by the USS Olympia, stood between them and a powerful Spanish fleet.

Admiral Montojo, a career Spanish naval officer who had been dispatched rapidly to the Philippines, was equipped with a variety of obsolete vessels. Efforts to strengthen his position amounted to little. The strategy adopted by the Spanish bureaucracy suggested they could not win a war and saw resistance as little more than a face-saving exercise. Administration actions worked against the effort, sending explosives meant for naval mines to civilian construction companies while the Spanish fleet in Manila was seriously undermanned by inexperienced sailors who had not received any training for over a year. Reinforcements promised from Madrid resulted in only two poorly-armored scout cruisers being sent while at the same time the authorities transferred a squadron from the Manila fleet under Admiral Pascual Cervera to reinforce the Caribbean. Admiral Montojo had originally wanted to confront the Americans at Subic Bay but abandoned that idea when he learned the planned mines and coastal defensives were lacking and the Castilla started to leak. Montojo compounded his difficulties by placing his ships outside the range of Spanish coastal artillery (which might have evened the odds) and choosing a relatively shallow anchorage. His intent seems to have been to spare Manila from bombardment and to allow any survivors of his fleet to swim to safety. The harbor was protected by six shore batteries and three forts whose fire during the battle proved to be ineffective. Only Fort San Antonio Abad had guns with enough range to reach the American fleet, but Dewey never came within their range during the battle.

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