noon
Four days later the mooring hawsers were cast off and the `` Yankee '' steamed out between the capes en route to Santiago . From the hour we left Norfolk until the sighting of the Cuban coast , our time was taken up with drills of every description . The following extract from the log for July 18th , will suffice for an example : `` Cleared ship for action at three bells along with general quarters . General quarters again half an hour after turn to at noon . Fire drill and abandon ship at three bells in the afternoon . General quarters again at two bells -LRB- 9 p.m. -RRB- . '' Under date of July 19th , one of the crew states in his private diary : `` Clear ship for action again .