Early in 1898 Germany entered the race with other Western powers for the acquisition of Asiatic bases and trading ports. In February she brought pressure enough upon China to obtain the lease of the Bay of Kiaochow and probably saw in the native uprising in the Philippines the possibility of obtaining them by purchase from Spain, consequently she assembled a portion of her Asiatic fleet in Hong Kong in anticipation of their occupancy. The destruction of the Maine, however, brought the United States into almost inevitable war with Spain, and the arrival of a U. S. Squadron in Hong Kong under Commodore Dewey threatened to bring in another competitor for the islands.
The German division in Hong Kong was under the command of Prince Henry of Prussia, whom Dewey had met some years before and liked, but even their cordial personal relations could not prevent an apprehension on the part of the German Prince that the United States might snatch the plum for which Germany was reaching. At a banquet Prince Henry was heard to say to Commodore Dewey: “What would you want in the event of Spain’s defeat?”
To which Dewey replied: “Only a bay.”
It seemed almost certain, however, that Dewey’s squadron of three vessels would be defeated by the Spanish squadron of six, and that the Germans could then negotiate with Spain for the purchase of her turbulent islands, but when Dewey’s squadron was increased to six, it seemed more than likely that the situation would be reversed. Germany then made her first cold war move by contracting for all the coal in Hong Kong, or in transit to Hong Kong. Dewey, however, beat the Germans to it by purchasing, with the approval of Great Britain, the collier Nanshan, loaded with coal, which was then nearing Hong Kong.
On April 27 Dewey’s squadron sailed for Manila. Figuring that it would take him three days to reach there, the foreign ship commanders at Hong Kong waited with bated breath on May 1 for news from the Philippines, but none came. On May 2 a cablegram went through from the Philippine Governor General to the Spanish Government stating that Dewey’s squadron had suffered a severe repulse with heavy loss.
But no word came from Dewey, and when an attempt was made to communicate with him the cable had gone dead.
When the cablegram from the Governor General of the Philippines was published, the German cruiser Irene was ordered from Nagasaki to Manila to learn what was happening. She entered Manila Bay, ignoring the blockade until brought to a standstill by a shot across her bow when she ignored a call from a patrol launch to heave to. Her captain claimed that he did not know that a blockade existed, but it was later found that he had been informed of it by a merchant vessel which he intercepted on his way down.
After nearly a week’s suspense, the McCulloch arrived in Hong Kong with complete reports which were very disheartening and disturbing to the Germans, but still they were not entirely discouraged. Dewey had not taken Manila and had expressed no immediate intention of doing so. He had only established a blockade of the bay.
As soon as this news was received, the German cruiser Cormoran was ordered to Manila from Hong Kong. The Cormoran attempted to slip through Dewey’s blockade in the dead of night, ignoring a signal to heave to, but was stopped by a shot from the Raleigh across her bow and boarded by an officer who assigned her an anchorage. There could be no logical explanation of her action other than an attempt to test the efficiency of the blockade.
The British heavy cruiser Immortalité almost immediately tailed the Cormoran, accompanied by a small British gunboat. The former was commanded by Captain Sir Edward Chichester, a warm friend of Commodore Dewey. A French and a Japanese cruiser soon followed. All these vessels were assigned an anchorage west of Manila, seven miles across the bay from Cavite.
Read the full text at: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1955/november/cold-war-between-von-diederichs-and-dewey-manila-bay
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