Considered a man of high ability and experience, he was given the difficult task of defending the Spanish Philippines with a small navy and low supplies against a larger U.S. Asiatic Squadron.

[2] At a meeting with the colony's captain general, Basilio Augustín, on March 15, 1898, he expressed his concerns that their forces would be destroyed by the Americans in battle because of their disadvantages, as it became apparent that war with the United States was increasingly likely.

[6] In the end, Montojo decided to send the squadron to Subic Bay to the northwest of Manila, which would be easier to defend for the Spaniards when the American ships arrived.

Reportedly, another factor in Montojo's decision was that he would not be able to save Spanish sailors in the depth of forty meters of water at Subic, which American naval officers found to be astounding.

Thus, the American squadron leader, Admiral George Dewey and his other officers initially had a low opinion of the Spanish commander's abilities.

[4] The American ships passed into Manila Bay without striking the few mines that the Spaniards had emplaced (the water was too deep and the waterway was too wide for them to be of much use), and aside from artillery fire from the guns on Corregidor island, they met little resistance.

The American squadron returned fire and Montojo's flagship, the cruiser Reina Cristina, sustained heavy damage along with the rest of the Spanish ships, forcing him to move his flag to the Isla de Cuba.

The captain of a British steamer that was then passing noted, "[Montojo] stood upright in the stern perfectly unmoved, although splashes of water flew repeatedly over the little craft.... it was an example of unparalleled heroism.

Among the testimony was Admiral George Dewey, to whom Montojo had sent a letter asking for assistance, and the American officer replied, "Although without accurate knowledge as to the condition of your ships, I have no hesitation in saying to you what I have already had the honor to report to my government, that your defense at Cavite was gallant in the extreme.

[3] Among those was León Aldao, A Critical Essay on the First Lands Discovered by Columbus, Encyclopedic Nautical Handbook, and translations of Angelo Secchi's book on physics and The Two Admirals by James Fenimore Cooper.