ssage with our ships.

"But the Spanish fleet is bottled up, and a plan is being considered to
drive in the cork. If that is done, the next news may be a thrilling story
of closing the harbour. It would release a part of our fleet, and leave
the Spaniards to starve and rot until they were ready to hoist the white
flag."

"To drive in the cork," was the subject nearest Rear-Admiral Sampson's
heart, and he at once went into consultation with his officers as to how
it could best be done. One plan after another was discussed and rejected,
and then Assistant Naval Constructor Richmond Pearson Hobson proposed that
the big collier _Merrimac_, which then had on board about six hundred tons
of coal, be sunk across the channel in such a manner as to completely
block it.

The plan was a good one; but yet it seemed certain death for those who
should attempt to carry it out as proposed. Lieutenant Hobson, however,
claimed that, if the scheme was accepted, he should by right be allowed to
take command of the enterprise.

The end to be attained was so great that Admiral Sampson decided that the
lives of six or seven men could not be allowed to outweigh the advantage
to be gained, and Lieutenant Hobson was notified that his services were
accepted; the big steamer was at his disposal to do with as he saw fit.

_June 11._ The preliminary work of this desperate undertaking was a strain
upon the officers and men. On Wednesday morning the preparations to
scuttle the _Merrimac_ in the channel were commenced. All day long crews
from the _New York_ and _Brooklyn_ were on board the collier, never
resting in their efforts to prepare her. She lay alongside the
_Massachusetts_, discharging coal, when the work was first begun.

The news of the intended expedition travelled quickly through the fleet,
and it soon became known that volunteers were needed for a desperate
undertaking. From the _Iowa's_ signal-yard quickly fluttered the
announcement that she had 140 volunteers, and the other ships were not far
behind. On the _New York_ the enthusiasm was intense. Over two hundred
members of the crew volunteered to go into that narrow harbour and face
death. The junior officers literally tumbled over each other in their
eagerness to get their names on the volunteer list.

When it was learned that only six men and Lieutenant Hobson were to go,
there was much disappointment on all sides. All Wednesday night the crews
worked on board the _Merrimac_; a