Talk:Battle of Manila Bay (1898)

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Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 15:50, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

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[edit] Mock battle

Wasn’t this the “mock battle” they used to tell us about in high school and before that?

I don't know. Was it? Are hundreds of people killed in mock battles? (SEWilco 23:27, 10 December 2006 (UTC))

The mock battle was a different battle, the attack on the city of Manila in August 1898. From History of the Filipino People 8th ed. by Teodoro Agoncillo, ISBN 971-1024-15-2:

[Governor-General] Jaudenes ... believed that the Spanish position was hopeless in the face of a superior enemy and in the face of the Filipino rebels. To save face, he insisted that to satisfy the Spanish code of honor, there should be a mock battle, after which the Spanish forces would surrender. He further insisted that the Filipino rebels should not be allowed to participate in the surrender of Manila, that is to say, they should not be allowed to enter the city. Dewey and Merritt accepted the terms even it meant treachery to their ally, General Aguinaldo. Dewey went so far as to promise to hold back the Filipino troops while the mock battle was being enacted. This agreement between Jaudenes, on one hand, and Dewey and Merritt, on the other, was so secret that no one else in either camp knew of its existence.

Uthanc 21:25, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Painting?

The article states, in an unsourced sentence, that the Spanish were painting their vessels. At 5 am on a Sunday? This seems rather mythological. Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 15:30, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

That material was added in this edit (Revision as of 03:03, June 20, 2003), the second edit made to this article. The edit cited:

SOURCES:

Website: www.spanamwar.com - The Spanish-American War Centennial Website Guerrero, J. "In Guerro con Los Estados Unidos, 1898" Nofi, A. "The Spanish-American War, 1898"

The account in http://www.spanamwar.com/mbay.htm contradicts this, saying, in part, "At 4:00 A.M., Montojo signaled his forces to prepare for action." and "The Americans finally spotted the Spanish vessels in their Cavite anchorage between Sangley Point and Las Pinas. At 5:15 a.m. the guns of the Cavite fortifications and the Spanish fleet opened fire. Dewey had his ships hold their fire until 5:40 A.M. Then, standing on the vessel's open bridge, he quietly told the OLYMPIA's captain, 'You may fire when ready, Gridley.'"

I haven't seen the other named sources, and don't know what they say (Guerro 1898) is not mentioned in the current article revision; (Nofi 1898) is still mentioned in the Additional References section. http://www.spanamwar.com/mbay.htm is still mentioned in the article's References section, but the text in the article's Battle section currently cites Dewey's account as a supporting source, and that says, "About 5.05 the Luneta and two other Manila batteries opened fire. ..." I have changed the text of the opening paragraph of the Battle section to be compatible with the info in either of these two sources. -- Boracay Bill (talk) 21:12, 1 May 2008 (UTC).

I, too have looked around, using the cited and other sources, and have seen nothing about painting. Indeed, there is little saying that the Spanish were even caught unawares. Would recommend deleting that whole sentence, or at least reducing it to something along the lines of: the Spanish forces had been alerted, and most were ready for action. Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 14:40, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Made the change, and also made the paragraph flow in chronological order. Now wondering if the new sentence is needed after all. Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 15:49, 14 May 2008 (UTC)