#6795 Orlo Smith Knepper ( Oliver Knepper • Simon Knepper • Johann Knepper • Johann Gottfried "Gottfried" Knepper◊ • Clemens Knepper◊ • Hans Peter Knepper◊ • Tilmann Knepper◊ )

Orlo was born 16 Jun 1875. He died 1 Apr 1940.

On 15 Feb 1898, the battleship Maine blew up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing 263 of the 350 man crew. To this day, the cause the blast is debated but, at the time, the Spanish were blamed and the Spanish-American War ensued.

Fortunately for him, after three years of duty on the Maine, Orlo Knepper had just been transferred to the light cruiser Concord as a signal recorder. He had attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1885 to 1891. Orlo was present with Admiral Dewey when they defeated the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay. I received the following account from Stanley Knepper:

Through a chain of circumstances caused by the sinking of the USS Maine, a small armada of ships gathered at Mirs Bay about 35 miles north of Hong Kong. Included were the Olympia, Baltimore, Raleigh, and Boston (cruisers) plus the light cruiser Concord, the gunboat Petrel, the fast cutter Hugh McCulloch, and two cargo ships, Nasham and Zafiro.

After removing all wooden items, spars, hatch covers, and sea chests that could become deadly splinters, the ships big guns were checked and made ready. On the 27th of April the flagship Olympia raised the "All Ships Follow" signal and as the band played "El Capitan March" the ships entered the China Sea on a heading that would take them to Manilla. Commodore Dewey led his ships past the high rocky islands of

El Fraile, corregidor and Caballo where just a few mines or well placed artillery batteries could have changed the outcome of the story you are now reading. Some of the men felt their lives were about to end as they made their way through the narrow passages that could easily become a trap with no way to retreat.

On Sunday, 01 May, a signal flare rose from the artillery batteries at El Fraile as shells landed all around the lead ships. The cruisers Raleigh, Boston, and light cruiser Concord promptly silenced the shore guns with a resounding barrage.

Commodore Dewey sipped cold tea "to settle his stomach" as he barked out orders. As the sun rose the Spanish fleet was sighted. The Spanish ships opened fire dropping shells in the water near the flotilla of American ships. At about 5:45 AM Dewey told Captain Gridley to open fire. The results were immediate and certain as the big 5" and 6" guns found their mark and ship after ship sank, or had to be ran aground to avoid sinking.

Orlo was one of two men sent aboard the Spanish ships to collect the side arms from the crew.

He retired in 1905 as a Lieutenant from the ship West Virginia. He became a businessman in New York City and lived in White Plains, New York.

∞ Orlo (relationship status suppressed while one person possibly living) #6850 Susan Coolidge Lantz.

(Information suppressed while possibly living)

Clifford T. Wig & Dorothy H. Wig, The Knepper Family Tree, (unpublished, Apr 1997). Ref. as [Wig].

Stanley Knepper, email to Tad Deffler, dated: 10 May 1997.

Line Generation: 8

Relationship: Third Cousins Three Times Removed through Johann Gottfried "Gottfried" Knepper◊