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The Fourth Battle of Topolobampo was a single ship action fought during the Mexican Revolution and the last naval battle of the Topolobampo Campaign. In June 1914, a Huerista gunboat sank a Constitutionalist gunboat off Topolobampo, Sinaloa in the Gulf of California. ==Background== After the Third Battle of Topolobampo and the first sinking of the Constitutionalist gunboat ''Tampico'', the rebel sailors under Captain Hilario Malpica raised their ship which was patially submerged behind Shell Point, at the mouth of Topolobampo Bay. Several United States Navy ships were in the area, observing the campaign. Flagship USS ''California'', , and were all present and were under the Pacific Fleet commander Rear Admiral Thomas B. Howard in ''California''. was also in the area. Much of the campaign is remembered by Rear Admiral Howard's and his officer's reports of the battles. On June 11, 1914, the ''Tampico'' was sighted by Howard when off Mazatlán while commanding his flagship. On Sunday, June 14, 1914, Howard received a report that ''Tampico'' was steaming away from Topolobampo to Altata. Rear Admiral Howard ordered destroyer USS ''Preble'', under Lieutenant Junior Grade Vance Duncan Chapline, to find the ''Tampico'' and follow her. The ''Preble'' immediately got under way at about 3:30 pm. From Mazatlán she steamed north toward Topolobampo. The destroyer ''Perry'', which was off La Paz, was ordered to head for Topolobampo and report to the ''Preble'' for further instructions with her radio. ''Preble''s commander, did not know what course or speed the ''Tampico'' was making so he slowly proceeded to Topolobampo, hoping to sight ''Tampico'' at around daylight the next morning. At roughly 7:30 am on June 15, ''Tampico'' was sighted to the west. The position was latitude 25° 14' north, and Longitude 109° 01' west. ''Preble'' approached to within two miles of ''Tampico'' and stopped. ''Tampico''s crew spotted ''Preble'' and also stopped. A few moments later a lifeboat was dropped and a Mexican officer, named Rebatet, boarded ''Preble'' and issued compliments from Captain Malpica. Rebatet also told the Lieutenant Chapline about how ''Tampico'' was under water for two months, as result of the third action off Topolobampo. On June 14, ''Tampico'' left Topolobampo under one boiler and proceeded to sea en route to Altata, Mexico. There Captain Malpica expected to retube ''Tampico''s boilers and improve the quality of her machinery. From there Malpica's mission would be to attack the Huerista gunboat ''Guerrero'', operating out of Guaymas. After destroying the ''Guerrero'', ''Tampico'' would begin a commerce raiding campaign against targets along the west coast of Mexico. The ''Tampico'' had steamed only thirty miles when her one remaining boiler had burned out of action, rendering the Constitutionalist saliors stranded with no means of propulsion. Repairs to the boiler were attempted but proved fruitless, eventually Captain Malpica requested that the American destroyer tow ''Tampico'' into Altata, eighty miles away. By this time, USS ''Perry'' had arrived, Lieutenant Chapline was forced to deny Malpica's request for a tow, as doing so would violate American neutrality. The Mexicans then asked Lieutenant Chapline to send a radio message to Rear Admiral Howard. Captain Malpica also asked if ''Preble''s commander would come to see him. ''Preble''s radioman sent the message to the Rear Admiral, as Malpica requested; at about 5:30 pm Lieutenant Chapline boarded the ''Tampico''. At the time Malpica's leg was covered in bandages; a week or so earlier he had accidentally fired his revolver into his foot and could barely walk during the final battle. Captain Malpica was happy to learn that a message was sent to Rear Admiral Howard and invited the Americans to inspect the poor condition ''Tampico'' was in. The U.S. Navy officers inspected the Mexican gunboat which was armed with two 4 inch guns, two 6-pounders and one machine gun on the bridge. The ''Tampico'' had a raised deck forward and aft, on each of which was mounted one of the 4 inch rapid-fire guns. Four other 6-pounder guns were originally part of ''Tampico''s armament but they were removed before the campaign. The rebels expected trouble with the 4 inch guns; upon examination, the Americans discovered that their breech block hinges were loose, the rifling badly eroded, and much movement was lost as a result of the training- and elevating-gears, covered in filth from being underwater. Furthermore, the rear gun sights could not be lined up with the front sights. The two 6-pounders appeared to be in fine condition. About 100 to 200 4 inch armor-piercing, blind and shrapnel shells were available, but most were weathered though due to exposure to the elements or from being submerged in Topolobampo Bay. The 6-pounders had plenty of ammunition but again the shells were in bad shape and dangerous to fire. Crates of small arms ammunition littered the vessel, some whole and filled with ammo, others splintered to pieces. The whole crates were stacked on the bridge and inside the captain's quarters. Among the debris three cows roamed the hold, adding to the mess. The engines were in a bad state, covered in rust. The generator was destroyed by salt water, meaning no lights could be used and ''Tampico''s crew had to use lanterns at night. The two boilers were "dead"; the fronts of the casings were missing along with the hand-hole plates. Tubes inside the boilers were visible; salt crystals hung from them – the steam piping, the fresh-water piping, and the gauges. About 500 tubes needed plugging according to the Mexican engineers. The rebels improvised with wooden table legs to plug the holes. Many of the ''Tampico''s crew wore bandages over their wounds from previous engagements. The crew consisted of Captain Malpica, an executive officer, a chief engineer, and an assistant engineer with three machinists. Twenty-nine sailors were aboard with a reinforcement of twenty-five rebel soldiers, to make up for the missing ''Tampico'' crew members. Sixty-one men in total. The American captain informed Malpica that a radio response from Rear Admiral Howard was not likely to happen that day so the U.S. sailors went back to their ship. ''Tampico'' would be sunk before the Americans received a response from their rear admiral. ''Guerrero'' was armed with six 4 inch guns and had an unknown number of crew, she was commanded by Captain Navio Torres of the Mexican Navy. When the American commander asked Malpica what he would do when he encountered the ''Guerrero'', he replied: "''I'll fight her and sink her if she will only come within range of my guns.''" During the same night the Lieutenant Chapline intercepted a radio communique from USS ''New Orleans'', under Commander Noble E. Irwin, to Rear Admiral Howard. The 8:00 pm message stated that the ''New Orleans'' was shadowing the ''Guerrero'' as she headed south from Guaymas and straight for ''Tampico''. With this information the Americans were able to estimate a reasonable time period for ''Guerrero'' and ''New Orleans'' arrival, which was around 7:00 am the following morning. ''Tampico'' was in terrible shape for her last battle; also, sometime during the same night of June 15, she drifted over a shoal and ran aground. It was at this position, latitude 25° 28' 30" North, Longitude 109° 18', that the ''Guerrero'' would sink ''Tampico'' for a final time. ''Perry'' and ''Prebble''s commanders were ordered to simply wait for ''Guerrero'' and ''New Orleans'' and to report every event of the battle but assist neither side. This meant that the Americans were not able to warn ''Tampico'' of the incoming ''Guerrero'' as it apparently would violate neutrality. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fourth Battle of Topolobampo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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