The Battle of Manila Bay, as the resulting conflict was known, made an auspicious start to the war. “Nineteenth century civilization and fifteenth century medievalism lay confronting each other” is how Dewey’s aide described the scene. In just over six hours on May 1, 1898, Dewey sank or captured every Spanish ship. The captain of Spain’s flagship was killed. The commander of Spain’s shoreside batteries committed suicide. The only U.S. fatality was due to a heart attack.
