Editing George Dewey (section)

==Spanish–American War==
{{Main|Spanish–American War}}

===Commander of Asiatic Squadron===

In 1896, Dewey applied for a sea posting as commander of the Asiatic Squadron. Although Dewey was a long shot for the position, his friend [[Theodore Roosevelt]] arranged for President [[William McKinley]] to select Dewey over a more senior officer.<ref name="jones" />{{rp|40–41}} The Commodore hoisted his pennant on board {{USS|Olympia|C-6|6}} at [[Nagasaki]] in January 1898, and departed for Hong Kong in February to inspect the U.S. warships lying in Hong Kong harbour.<ref name="WqqEj" /> Upon arrival, he learned that {{USS|Maine|ACR-1|2}} had blown up in Havana Harbor.<ref name="kXmIM" /> Dewey was skeptical that the country would go to war, writing, "I don't see what we have to gain in a war with Spain."<ref name="JyM2h" /> However, he was confident of victory, writing, "I expect to capture the Spanish ships and reduce the defenses of Manila in one day."<ref name="OU0wY" />

As the war clouds loomed, Dewey assembled his squadron at Hong Kong and made preparations. The cruiser {{USS|Baltimore|C-3|6}} was dispatched to Hong Kong via the [[Republic of Hawaii]]. Dewey purchased the merchant colliers {{USS|Nanshan|AG-3|2}} and {{USS|Zafiro|1884|2}}, retaining their crews. The warships were repainted from white to gray. Upon the outbreak of war between the United States and Spain, the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] declared its [[Neutral country|neutrality]] and Dewey was ordered by [[Wilsone Black]] to leave British waters. The Asiatic Squadron moved to the Chinese waters of [[Mirs Bay]].

===Battle of Manila Bay===
{{Main|Battle of Manila Bay}}

[[File:USS Olympia with Dewey at Battle of Manila bay DSCN4191 at Vermont State.jpg|thumb|Detail of a painting in the [[Vermont State House]] depicting Dewey on {{USS|Olympia|C-6|6}} during the [[Battle of Manila Bay]]]]

On April 27, 1898, he sailed from China aboard {{USS|Olympia|C-6|6}} with orders to attack the Spanish at [[Manila Bay]]. He stopped at the mouth of the bay late the night of April 30, and the following morning he gave the order to attack at first light, saying the now famous words "You may fire when you are ready, [[Charles Vernon Gridley|Gridley]]." True to his word, Dewey defeated the Spanish in a battle lasting just six hours. The Asiatic Squadron sank or captured the entire Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral [[Patricio Montojo y Pasarón]] and silenced the shore batteries at [[Manila]], with the loss of only one life on the American side from a heart attack.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McSherry |first1=Patrick |title=The Battle of Manila Bay (Cavite) |url=https://www.spanamwar.com/mbay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117103701/https://www.spanamwar.com/mbay |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 17, 2021 |website=spanamwar.com |publisher=The Spanish American War Centennial |access-date=October 18, 2022 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote
| quote = Didn't Admiral Dewey do wonderfully well? I got him the position out there in Asia last year, and I had to beg hard to do it; and the reason I gave was that we might have to send him to Manila. And we sent him — and he went!
| source = Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Wingate Sewall, May 4, 1898<ref name="i4tGV" />
}}

===Philippines===
In the early stages of the Spanish-American War in the Philippines, Dewey and the Americans were aided by the Filipino nationalists led by [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] who had fought previously the [[Philippine Revolution]] and were attacking the Spanish by land after Dewey had defeated the Spanish at sea.  There were no U.S. Army ground troops in the Philippines at the time.  Dewey and Aguinaldo at first enjoyed a cordial relationship,{{according to whom|date=May 2020}} and Dewey wrote that the Filipinos were "intelligent" and well "capable of self-government."<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The opinions of Admiral Dewey about the war in the Philippines |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtI7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA184 |magazine=Life |publisher=John Ames Mitchell |date=September 7, 1899 |volume=XXXIV |issue=876 |page=184 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Krenn |first1=Michael L. |editor1-last=Krenn |editor1-first=Michael L. |title=The Impact of Race on U.S. Foreign Policy: A Reader |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-14998-2 |page=82 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jyr3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT82 |language=en |chapter=Imperialism and The Anglo-Saxon}}</ref>  In August after ground troops arrived, Dewey aided U.S. Army General [[Wesley Merritt]] in taking possession of Manila on August 13, 1898, during the 1898 [[Battle of Manila (1898)|Battle of Manila]], the "mock Battle of Manila", while Aguinaldo's troops, surrounding Manila, were kept out.  In February 1899, the [[Philippine–American War]] started. In 1902, Dewey testified during the [[United States Senate Committee on the Philippines#Lodge Committee|Lodge Committee's]] investigation into alleged American war crimes against Filipinos. There, Dewey seemingly reversed his previous positions, stating that "neither the Filipinos nor the Cubans are capable of self-government" and the Philippines would "lapse into anarchy" if the United States granted them full independence. Despite the clear difference between his testimony and his earlier statements, Dewey stated that his testimony reflected the opinions he always held.<ref>{{cite news |author=|title=Admiral Dewey Continues His Testimony|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/06/29/archives/admiral-dewey-continues-his-testimony-he-gives-further-details.html | work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City, United States |date=June 29, 1902 | page=13 |access-date=June 6, 2024}}</ref>