In 1885 the War Department had planned and Congress had sanctioned a system of coast defense.

Up to 1898, however, only one quarter of the sum considered necessary had been appropriated.

Mines and torpedoes were laid at the entrances to American harbors as soon as war broke out, but there was a lack of highpower guns.

Rumors of a projected raid by the fast Spanish armored cruisers kept the coast cities in a state of high excitement, and many sought, by petition and political pressure, to compel the Navy Department to detach vessels for their defense.

The Naval War Board, however, had to remember that it must protect not only the coast but commerce also, and that the United States was at war not to defend herself but to attack.