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Fire When Ready

U.S. Navy Captain Charles Gridley earned a place in history on May 1, 1898,during the Battle of Manila Bay.

By Richard Harris

Just after midnight on May 1, 1898, the USS Olympia led the United States’s Asiatic Squadron quietly through the calm, glassy waters of the Boca Grande Channel, between the island of Corregidor and the coast of Luzon in the Philippines. The United States was at war with Spain, and the American squadron was preparing to attack a Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.

As Sunday morning dawned hours later, the Olympia’s commander, Captain Charles Gridley, waited for the order to fire his ship’s guns. The order would come from the squadron’s commander, Commodore George Dewey, who watched from atop the Olympia’s flying bridge as shore batteries fired harmlessly at the advancing column of American ships. At 5:40 A.M. Dewey finally hailed Gridley with the now-famous words, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.”

The ensuing Battle of Manila Bay ended with the destruction of the Spanish fleet and the surrender of the Philippine capital of Manila. It signaled to the world that the United States was a major naval power and made Dewey a national hero. The pivotal sea battle also hastened the death of the terminally ill Captain Gridley. Though considered one of the best and brightest officers in the United States Navy at the time of his death, Gridley would probably be forgotten today if it weren’t for Dewey’s command.

Charles Vernon Gridley was born in Logansport, Indiana, on November 24, 1844. When he was three, his father moved the family to Michigan. Thirteen years later Charles won an appointment from that state to the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1863.

Gridley’s first assignment was aboard the nine-gun steam sloop Oneida during the Civil War. As part of the Union fleet commanded by Admiral David Farragut, the Oneida participated in the capture of the Confederate port of Mobile, Alabama, on August 5, 1864. It was the only action Gridley saw during the first 33 years of his career. He spent the remainder of the war on blockade duty.

Gridley left the Oneida in 1866 and subsequently received a number of routine assignments, including service in the South Atlantic Station, a four-year stint as an instructor at the Naval Academy, and the command of two training ships. In May 1872, he married Harriet Frances Vincent, and they had three children.

On July 28, 1897, the 52-year-old Gridley reached the pinnacle of his career when he was given command of the USS Olympia. Launched in 1892, the 5,870- ton protected cruiser carried four 8-inch guns, ten 5-inch guns, and fourteen 6-pounders and was manned by a crew of 34 officers and 440 enlisted men. Gridley was particularly pleased with this appointment. Not only was the Olympia the flagship of the Asiatic Squadron, but squadron commander George Dewey was a close friend. The only circumstance marring this professional achievement was an intense pain that Gridley had begun experiencing in his right side. The fleet surgeon was unable to find a cause for Gridley’s discomfort or for the gradual weight loss that had taken him from a robust 200 pounds to 115. It is believed that he was probably suffering from liver cancer.

ON FEBRUARY 15, 1898, the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 men and setting off a chain of events that would lead to armed conflict with Spain. As the international situation deteriorated, Commodore Dewey, stationed with his Asiatic Squadron in British-controlled Hong Kong, became increasingly concerned about the health of his flagship captain. With each passing day Gridley became weaker. He had lost his appetite and barely had the strength to move around the Olympia. Dewey knew that once war was declared, he would be ordered to attack the Spanish Pacific Fleet, and he didn’t want the captain of his flagship debilitated by illness.

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