 Hired by the Bacheller newspaper syndicate to serve as a war correspondent during the Cuban insurrection against Spain , the 25 @-@ year @-@ old Stephen Crane boarded the filibustering steamship SS Commodore on New Year 's Eve , 1896 . The ship sailed from Jacksonville , Florida , with 27 or 28 men and a cargo of supplies and ammunition for the Cuban rebels . On the St. Johns River , less than 2 miles ( 3 km ) from Jacksonville , Commodore struck a sandbar in a dense fog and damaged its hull . Although towed off the sandbar the following day , it was again beached in Mayport , Florida , and further damaged . A leak began in the boiler room that evening , and as a result of malfunctioning water pumps , the ship came to a standstill about 16 miles ( 26 km ) from Mosquito Inlet ( now called Ponce de León Inlet ) . As the ship took on more water , Crane described the engine room as resembling " a scene at this time taken from the middle kitchen of Hades . " 
