VIRGINIUS AFFAIR

Historically our Navy has been tasked with the protection of American citizens overseas, as witnessed by a nearly explosive brush with Spain in 1873.  Cuban rebels were well into their 40-year struggle for independence from Spain, and in an effort to intercept gun-running to these rebels, the Spanish navy began patrolling the Caribbean.  A few US Navy vessels were stationed in the area as well to prevent filibustering under our flag.  Despite this, the American-flagged civilian paddlewheel steamer Virginius, a swift former Confederate blockade runner, made several weapons runs to Cuba.  On October 31^st Virginius was sighted by the Spanish cruiser Tornado and chased for eight hours.  She was caught off Jamaica and impounded in Santiago de Cuba.

President Ulysses S. Grant lodged an immediate protest with Spanish president Emilio Castelar y Ripoll.  But local Cuban authorities acted on their own before Spain could intercede.  The crewmen were tried and convicted, and between 7-8 November, 16 passengers and 37 crewmen from Virginius were dragged from their cells and executed by firing squad.  Among the victims was the skipper, Joseph Fry, a Naval Academy graduate and veteran of the US and Confederate Navies.  The American public was outraged–the New York Times stating that if news of the executions be true, “there will be nothing left…but to declare war.”  Within days USS WYOMING steamed into Santiago harbor with her guns run out, her captain, William B. Cushing, declaring to the local authorities, “If you intend to shoot any more of the Virginius prisoners, you would better first have the women and children removed from Santiago, as I shall bombard the town.”  In further preparation Grant ordered RADM David Dixon Porter to assemble the bulk of the Atlantic Fleet at Key West, along with COL Charles Heywood’s US Marines, to await developments.

Heated negotiation ensued between Secretary of State Hamilton Fish and the Spanish ambassador in Washington.  In the end, reason prevailed.  On November 28^th an accord was signed under which Spain agreed to release the ship and the remaining crew and to render an apology in the form of an official salute to the American Flag.  Virginius was released (but ironically, on her way to the United States she wrecked off Cape Fear).

The promised salute was never rendered.  The affair took a queer twist later, when it was discovered that Virginius was actually Cuban-owned and had been illegitimately licensed at the New York customshouse.  Given this “out” Grant allowed the issue to die though Spain later paid indemnities to American and a few British families of the victims.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  10-11 NOV 25 

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Howarth, Stephen.  To Shining Sea:  A History of the United States Navy  1775-1991.  New York, NY: Random House, 1991, pp. 222-23.

Love, Robert W.  History of the US Navy, Vol 1  1775-1941.  Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1992, pp. 334-37.

Sweetman, Jack.  American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 2^nd ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1991, p. 94.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The Cuban civil war had broken out in 1868, and from the outset, US sentiments favored the Cubans.  Most of the filibustering (gun-running) was, in truth, being conducted by Americans.  President Grant asked Mr. Fish to formally recognize the rebels in 1869, in hopes of forcing the issue of Cuban independence with Spain.  But after it was discovered how very far the material readiness of our Navy had deteriorated since the Civil War, Congress had to revisit our forceful stance.

The Virginius affair stirred our Navy to conduct exercises off Key West two years later in 1875.  Five frigates, six monitors, and 20-odd smaller craft took part.  The event turned into an embarrassment as these few vessels were widely thought to be about the only seaworthy ones left in our Navy, and none could manage more than 4 ½ knots.  One newspaper pathetically complained, “They belong to a class of ships which other governments have sold or are selling for firewood.”  Indeed, it had taken only a decade for our Navy to slip from a position of world leader and innovator during the Civil War to that of a distant “also-ran.”

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                                                  30 APRIL 1943

                                      OPERATION “MINCEMEAT”

When the American 7^th and British 8^th Armies landed on southern Sicily 10 July 1943 they found lighter than anticipated resistance.  It seems the Germans had concentrated their defenses on the northern Sicilian shore opposite Sardinia.  In just 38 days Sicily was secured, the first piece of Europe retaken by the Allies in WWII.  German documents captured after the war revealed the reason.

After the victory in North Africa, Sicily, just 90 miles from Tunisia, was the next obvious target for the Allies.  But this was evident to the Germans as well, and to divert attention the Allies needed a diversionary target.  British Intelligence came up with an ingenious, if not gruesome plan.  A deceased body wearing a Mae West life vest would be released at sea off Huelva, Spain, where the local authorities were known to be cooperative with the Germans.  Appearing to be the victim of an airplane crash at sea, the body would be wearing a uniform of a Royal Marine and carry the identity card of “Acting MAJ William Martin.”  A briefcase would be chained to Martin in a manner a high-level courier might use.  Inside would be several false documents, including a personal letter from GEN Sir Archibald Nye, Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff (British) to GEN Sir Harold Alexander at the British 18^th Army HQ in Tunisia.  Such a sensitive letter would not normally be sent through channels, as it discussed two concurrent (false) operations to be launched against eastern Greece and Sardinia.

Finding a suitable body proved problematic–of one whose death was consistent with exposure at sea, and whose next of kin would consent.  Ultimately the age-appropriate body of a homeless man without known relatives was found in a London morgue.  “William Martin” was given a personal background that any officer might have.  His wallet contained pictures of a fiancée and a fake receipt for an engagement ring, and ticket stubs from a London theater were stuffed in his pocket.  At 0430 this morning the submarine HMS SERAPH pulled to within 1600 yards of the Spanish coast.  After appropriate prayers the body was released.  It was recovered that morning by a Spanish fisherman and Operation “Mincemeat” was underway.

It worked!  Word of the anticipated “invasions” of Greece and Sardinia reached the German High Command in May.  Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Hitler’s most trusted commander, was assigned to an HQ in Tripolis, Greece.  Minefields were laid off Kalamata and Araxos, the projected landing beaches, and patrol boats were re-located from Sicily.  Even the 1^st Panzer Division was shipped by rail from France to Greece.  As late as 23 July Hitler was still convinced the Sicily invasion was only a diversion!

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  5 MAY 23

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

MacIntyre, Ben.  Operation Mincemeat:  How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Assured an Allied Victory.  New York, NY: Harmony Books, 2010.

Montagu, Ewen.  The Man Who Never Was.  Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott, 1954.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  Spanish authorities in Huelva gave “William Martin” a proper burial with full military honors.  Today a marker in the Nuesta Señora de la Soledad Cemetery of that city bears his name.  The true identity of the body was kept secret for years as part of the agreement with the London Coroner’s Office.  Today it is believed he was a 34-year-old homeless Welshman named Glyndwr Michael, whose body was found in the St. Pancras district of London after he ingested poison.  His true identity is remembered with a plaque on the War Memorial in Aberbargoed, Wales, which is inscribed in Welsh, “Y Dyn Na Fu Erioed” (The Man Who Never Was).

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