Defeat

The Miraflores locks are in ruins, the Gatun spillways are broken, Gatun Lake is drained, the Panama Canal is dry land once more, our fleet is divided and our Pacific Coast is at the mercy of the " Black" Navy. These are the hypothetical results of the battle maneuvers of our fleet in the Pacific. The United Stales fleet under command of Admiral Jones put the Canal defenses to the most severe test possible and discovered weakness. The story of the attack was this: The fleet divided into a "Blue" fleet defending the canal and a "Black" or "enemy" fleet attacking. It was assumed that strained relations existed between the "Black" government and the United States, and that the condition was further aggravated by the Black fleet cruising off the Pacific Coast, while the greater part of the Blue or United States fleet was being hastily overhauled in the Atlantic navy yards. The Black fleet, under Admiral Eberle, after refueling at the Galapagos Islands, 1,600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, proceeded toward Lower California. En route it received orders to attack the Canal without waiting for a declaration of war. Vice Admiral McDonald, in command of the Blue defending fleet, which had been hurried through the Canal to the Pacific, tried to locate the Black fleet, but because of a lack of scout cruisers, was unable to do so. The Black fleet slipped into Culebra Gulf, Costa Rica, without his knowledge. From there, Black aeroplanes made a quick 385-mile flight to the Atlantic end of the Canal. No defending aeroplanes were at hand and the Gatun Spillway was blown to pieces by an avalanche of bombs. Then south from Culebra came the Black fleet, driving the Blue fleet before it down the Pacific Coast. Panama Bay was swept of mines and the Blacks proceeded to the bombardment. Laying down a smoke screen, the Black fleet battered the land batteries with its fourteen-inch guns from a range of 30,000 yards--5,000 yards beyond the range of the forts. Then, drawing closer, it destroyed the Miraflores locks with its longest range guns, while 82 fourteen-inch guns concentrated on the forts. The destruction was complete. The Canal lay useless.