Bridge | 5 December 2013

One of the most dramatic events of the Spanish American War was the sinking of the cargo ship Merrimac. Early in 1898, a bold plan was hatched by the US navy to rig the Merrimac with explosives, sail it into the narrow channel leading into Santiago harbour, then blow it up — thereby blocking the Spanish fleet within the harbour. As it was basically a suicide mission, the skeleton crew of just eight men were all volunteers.

In the end, the mission failed: the Merrimac’s steering gear was damaged by enemy fire and, despite sinking, the vessel failed to block the channel. Although they were captured, the crew did at least survive — and after a prisoner swap the following month, they returned home as heroes.

Today, there are probably more bridge players than historians who know about the daring mission. We’ve borrowed its name for a clever defensive manouevre, the Merrimac Coup — which, as you might expect, involves the deliberate sacrifice of an honour in order to block the opponents’ communications.