Oscar Walter Farenholt - Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

During the Spanish-American War, Farenholt was put in command of the USS Monocacy. The ship was an old vessel with about 50 crew members. The Monocacy was once said to be "only fit for a museum shelf." His ship was used as base of procurement at Shanghai for Dewey's fleet. Farenholt spent no time in the Caribbean during the war, even though that was where the majority of the fighting took place. He was given the task of obtaining a source for coal and supplies for the Asiatic Squadron through a Chinese intermediary. The efforts were kept secret, because this was against the neutrality laws.