| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
On the night of 30 April 1898, the six-ship U.S. Asiatic Squadron, commanded by Commodore George Dewey, steamed into Manila Bay in the
Spanish Philippines to do battle with the Spanish South Pacific Squadron. In less
than seven hours Dewey sank or captured the entire Spanish fleet and silenced
Manila's shore batteries, all while suffering just eight wounded and without the
loss of a single American life.
1
Dewey's success in a distant bay most Americans
could not have pointed to on a map transformed the United States into a colonial power, causing Europe to take note.
2
An editorial in a German newspaper
observed that Dewey's victory marked "a new epoch in history, not only for the
United States but likewise for Europe.
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