Chinese School, Circa 1898

The painting depicts the battle line of Commodore George Dewey's Asiatic Squadron at the Battle of Manila Bay early on the morning of 1 May 1898. The lead American vessel is the cruiser USS Olympia wearing Dewey's blue and white command pennant and displaying his action signals on her main mast. The Spanish ships under the command of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón on the flagship Reina Cristina are shown lying close to shore to gain some protection from the shore batteries. Dewey engaged at 5.41am, his ships in line ahead firing on the Spanish ships and forts with their port guns. The American squadron then swung around and bombarded the enemy with their starboard guns. The Spanish fleet was quickly sunk or in flames and Dewey was able to retire victorious from the action before noon. This decisive defeat of the Spanish fleet in the opening battle in the Spanish-American War marked the end of the Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines.