a weak navy and the need for a naval resurgence. Ordered double turreted warships (1874) At the time of the Virginius incident in 1873, Spain had the world’s most modern navy, and its army was composed of battle-hardened veterans of the war in Cuba and the civil war in Spain. In contrast, the post-Civil War demobilization of the U.S. army and navy had rendered both obsolete and insignificant. In response, Sec. Robeson ordered five double-turreted (rotating deck guns) warships on June 23, 1874, to implement U.S. naval resurgence; all participated in the Spanish–American War, which started in 1898. The "rebuilding" of USS Puritan and four Miantonomohs were under the direction of Sec. Robeson. Each ship was redesigned, scrapped, and rebuilt from almost all new ironworks material. The five ships included the , the , the , the . and the . At the beginning of the Spanish–American War, from April 22 through 24, 1898, USS Terror captured three Spanish warships: Almansas, Ambrosia Bolivar and Guido. USS Puritan shelled Matanzas on April 27, 1898. From May 5, 1898, to August 4, 1898, USS Miantonomoh served in a squadron of ships that blockaded the northern coast of Cuba. On May 12, 1898, USS Amphitrite hurled 17 shells shoreward, as well as 30 shells, 30 3-pounders and 22 6-pounders on San Juan, Puerto Rico. On February 10, 1899, USS Monadnock participated in the Battle of Caloocan, a few miles north of Manila. Inflation bill (1874) When the nation fell into a depression after the Panic of 1873, Congress responded by passing Bill S.617, dubbed the "inflation bill," that would add $400 million greenbacks (paper currency) into circulation. The bill also advanced an equivalent amount of specie-backed money. Both houses overwhelming approved the bill, believing it would bring relief, to a cash-depleted nation, expecting Grant, to quickly sign it. Grant, however, contemplated that matter and discussed it with his cabinet, having received the bill on April 14, 1874. He told his cabinet he would not sign the bill, believing it would be "a departure from true principles of finance." Grant's cabinet was both divided and speechless. Robeson spoke up and said he wished "the President had reached a different conclusion." Secretary of War William Belknap said a veto "would array the entire West in opposition." Secretary of State Hamilton Fish approved of Grant's veto. Grant vetoed the bill, while an attempt to override Grant's