"It was significant for atleast six reasons."
"It was significant for atleast six reasons."
According to author Patrick McSherry and other analysts, the May 1, 1898 Battle of Manila Bay was significant for at least six reasons.
First, the United States became recognized not just as a naval power but a world power overnight.
Before the battle, the US Navy had been a subject of derision internationally for years. The US changed that with the advent of its new steel navy. At a time when a country’s military was rated according to the strength of its navy, the Battle of Manila Bay was the first time that the ability of both the U.S. warships and their well-trained crews were shown to be an important world force.
Second, it was a complete and final victory, ending any threat from the Spanish naval forces involved. All major seven Spanish ships under Spanish Admiral Patricio Montojo were destroyed or captured, without any significant damage occurring to the American Forces.
Third, no Americans died during the battle. One died from tension on the way to the battle. Another died from stress after departing from the battle. Nine Americans were wounded. None of George Dewey’s six ships were lost.
“The two American deaths did indirectly occur which may be attributable to the battle. Many Spaniards died—161; 210 Spanish sailors were wounded. Thus, the Americans look at the victory as a ‘bloodless’ battle, whereas the Spanish obviously do not,” wrote McSherry.
Fourth, the American attack was very daring and dangerous, based on what the Americans knew at the time, but not as risky when looked at in hindsight.
Many world powers, who were not aware of the American naval build-up over the past decade and a half, considered the US Asiatic Squadron to be little or no threat to the Spanish naval forces.
The Americans also over-rated the Spanish navy’s ability and determination to fight, and many authorities considered the fleet to be sailing into a veritable deathtrap. In addition to the naval forces, many Spanish gun batteries existed in the fortifications around Manila Bay. These guns alone should have been enough armament to destroy the American squadron.
Fifth, “the American Asiatic Squadron was not sufficiently supplied with ammunition for wartime service and the nearest site for resupply was California, 7,000 miles away!” reported McSherry.
Sixth, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Spanish defeat in the Battle of Manila Bay contributed to the final US victory in the Spanish-American War.
Said historynet: “The Spanish-American War lasted a mere 109 days, but it propelled the US to the forefront of world affairs.”
Finally, with the defeat and under the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, the Americans began the colonization of the Philippines, for nearly half a century, from 1898 (the same year General Emilio Aguinaldo had declared independence from Spain) to July 4, 1946, when the Philippines declared independence from the US.
Sadly, some say, the US colonization of the Philippines remains to this day. Which makes President Duterte very angry.
Said Dewey in his memoirs:
“Hitherto the United States had been considered a second-class power, whose foreign policy was an unimportant factor beyond the 3-mile limit of the American hemisphere. By a morning’s battle, we had secured a base in the Far East at a juncture in international relations when the parceling out of China among the European powers seemed imminent.”
According to historynet, “Following the Civil War, the US had renewed its westward expansion that took American interests beyond the country’s Pacific coast, across the ocean and into Asia. New markets in China and rapidly modernizing Japan drew the US into a region that had long been exploited by European colonial powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Spain. Spain’s Philippines colony, given its superb strategic position astride the main western Pacific sea-lanes, and the fact that Manila Bay was the finest natural port in Asia, was of particular interest to Americans (notably Theodore Roosevelt) who longed for a U.S. Pacific empire.”
On Dec. 10, 1898, under the Treaty of Paris, the Philippines, along with Guam and Puerto Rico, was sold to the US by Spain for $20 million. Cuba, however, gained its independence under the same treaty.
Said Wikipedia:
“The Treaty of Paris was not well received in the Philippines. Filipino nationalists were incensed at the arrogance of the imperial powers to bargain away their independence for the tidy price of US$20 million with not so much as a pretense of consultation with Filipinos.”
Said historynet, “Filipino nationalists, however, soon recognized Dewey’s rapid conquest of the Philippines as merely one occupying power, Spain, being replaced with another colonial master, the United States.”
On Jan. 23, 1899 General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the Malolos Constitution and the First Philippine Republic.
“The hostilities in the Philippine War of Independence began on Feb. 4, 1899 and continued for two years. The United States needed 126,000 soldiers to subdue the Philippines. The war took the lives of 4,234 Americans and 16,000 Filipinos. As usually happens in guerrilla campaigns, the civilian population suffers the worst. As many as 200,000 civilians may have died from famine and disease,” said Wikipedia.
Aguinaldo was captured on March 23, 1901 in Palanan, Isabela. He pledged allegiance to the US.
With succeeding events until today, it appears as if the United States never left the Philippines despite President Duterte’s pivot to China.
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