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 Huertista 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, rebel sailors under Captain Hilario Malpica raised their ship, which had been partially 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, 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. He ordered the destroyer USS Preble, under Lieutenant Junior Grade Vance Duncan Chapline, to find Tampico and follow her. Preble immediately got underway 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 Preble for further instructions with her radio. Prebles commander, did not know what course or speed Tampico was making, so he slowly proceeded to Topolobampo, hoping to sight the ship at around daylight the next morning.
At roughly 7:30 am on June 15, Tampico was sighted to the west at latitude 25° 14' north, longitude 109° 01' west. Preble approached to within two miles of Tampico and stopped. Tampicos crew spotted Preble and also stopped. A few moments later, a lifeboat was dropped and a Mexican officer named Rebatet boarded Preble and presented the compliments of Captain Malpica. Rebatet also told Lieutenant Chapline how Tampico had been underwater 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 Tampicos 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. Tampico had steamed only thirty miles when her one remaining boiler had burned out of action, rendering the Constitutionalist sailors 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, so Lieutenant Chapline was forced to deny Malpica's request, as doing so would have violated American neutrality. The Mexicans then asked Chapline to send a radio message to Rear Admiral Howard. Captain Malpica also asked if Prebles commander would come to see him. Prebles radioman sent the message as requested.
At about 5:30 pm, Chapline boarded 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. The captain was happy to learn that a message had been 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 guns, two guns and one machine gun on the bridge. Tampico had a raised deck forward and aft, each of which mounted one of the 4-inch rapid-fire guns. Four other 6-pounder guns were originally part of Tampicos armament, but they had been 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, being 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 had been destroyed by salt water, meaning no lights could be used and Tampicos 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 Tampicos crew wore bandages over their wounds from previous engagements. Beside Captain Malpica, the crew consisted 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, for a total of sixty-one men. The American captain informed Malpica that a radio response from 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.
Guerrero was armed with six 4-inch guns and had an unknown number of crewmen. She was commanded by Captain Navio Torres of the Mexican Navy. When the American commander asked Malpica what he would do when he encountered Guerrero, he replied, "I'll fight her and sink her if she will only come within range of my guns."
At 8:00 pm that night, Chapline intercepted a radio communique from USS New Orleans, under Commander Noble E. Irwin, to Rear Admiral Howard. The message stated that New Orleans was shadowing Guerrero as she headed south from Guaymas straight for Tampico. With this information, the Americans were able to estimate when Guerrero and New Orleans would arrive: 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' west, that Guerrero would sink Tampico for a final time. Perry and Prebbles 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 their neutrality.
Battle
Just before daylight, June 16, 1914, the two American destroyers and Tampico sighted two fast-approaching vessels to the north. The weather was well, clear skies and warm air with just a slight breeze; the California Gulf was very calm. At around 5:30 am the two ships were identified as Guerrero and USS New Orleans. Guerrero came to a halt and cleared for action and at about 7:00 am, began her advance towards Tampico. Tampicos Mexican National Ensign was hoisted and life boats lowered on the unengaged starboard side, reportedly the only preparations the rebels made before the action. The Huerista gunboat raised her flag, which was identical to Tampicos but a little smaller. Tampico commenced the action at 7:47 am by firing her 4-inch guns at the now stationary Guerrero.
Tampicos shots fell short and Guerrero fired back with one gun; her shots hit the water over Tampico. A gunnery battle at a range of continued for many moments. The crews of the American vessels were very excited according to Lieutenant Chapline and predominantly in favor of Tampico, not because of the political situation but because the Americans knew of Tampicos poor condition. The Americans covered the decks of their ships and climbed onto the rigging to observe with binoculars. Whenever one of Tampicos shells fell near Guerrero, the Americans would cheer and whenever Tampico was hit they would groan and criticize the bad gunnery of both Tampico and Guerrero. The battle initially continued for about an hour before either side made any hits. The American quartermaster aboard Preble joked by saying that
"Those boobs on the Tampico will starve to death before the Guerrero hits her."
Throughout the engagement, Preble steamed back and forth, in between the two fighting Mexican gunboats. Whenever the Guerrero came about the Americans would follow each of her movements but never interfered as they remained one to two miles away from Guerrero at all times. Eventually most of Tampicos guns were in action, her two 4-inch guns and starboard 6-pounder. The machine gun mounted on the bridge was never used, as was the same for the portside 6-pounder. Guerrero never came within range of small arms and never maneuvered to Tampicos port; she used all of her 4-inch guns. Lieutenant Chapline ordered a yeoman to stand near him during the action, with a stopwatch, pad and pencil. The yeoman's orders were to write down every event and the times in which they occurred. The gunnery of both Mexican gunboats was reported as being very "erratic". Later during the battle, while observing Tampico, the crew of Preble discovered that the Constitutionalist gunners would actually line up for a shot on Guerrero, then lie down and pull the firing lanyard, making no attempt to properly aim the guns.
The same procedure was used by the gunners of Guerrero according to Prebles crew but this was contradicted by the Lieutenant Chapline's, who said he could see the gun pointers just before Guerrero fired. At 7:51 am the range reduced a little so the Guerrero changed course to starboard and away from the Tampico. At 8:02 Guerrero stopped for a moment with her starboard broadside aimed at Tampico and fired; the range was around ; still neither Mexican gunboat inflicted a hit on the other. Many of Tampicos shells were falling about in front of Guerrero, the Americans deemed this as result of water-damaged ammunition or the dirty elevating gears on the 4-inch guns. When at 8:20 am, Guerrero came about again, presented her port broadside to Tampico before firing another. The Americans reported that the rate of firing increased at that time but all shells were falling short of target. At 8:22 am Guerrero began advancing towards Tampico slowly, at 8:24 am she made her first hit after well over a half an hour of fighting. The round hit the main deck between the poop and the main mast. A big cloud of white smoke confirmed the hit, but Tampico appeared to have suffered no serious damage. This shell was shrapnel, after the sea action, the Americans learned that Guerrero fired primarily shrapnel rounds during the combat.