The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Sinking of the USS MAINE - (2/15/1898) - Nov 23rd, 2003

www.spanamwar.com ^ | Edward P. McMorrow

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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What Destroyed the USS MAINE
An opinion

The Significance of the Destruction of the MAINE

The explosion which destroyed the battleship USS MAINE in the harbor of Havana, Cuba on the night of February 15, 1898 was a blast which would continue to echo around the Americas for many years to come. In response to the destruction of the ship, Washington sent American troops and warships to intervene in the Cuban revolt against Spanish colonial rule, and to attack other parts of the Spanish colonial empire, including the Philippines. This attack on Spanish possessions was the first American war against a foreign power since the Mexican-American War of 1845-48. It marked a major change in American foreign policy away from isolationsim and toward a more active role in international affairs, a trend which has continued through the twentieth century. The American victory over Spain, a great power since the time of Columbus which had once dominated much of the world, marked the entrance of the United States into the arena of world powers. As a result, Washington assumed a greater role in the Americas, well beyond the immediate borders of the United States. Americans now had interests in the entire Western Hemisphere, and were no longer occupied with the westward expansion across North America.



The war also marked the beginning of American international involvement beyond the Americas. The achievement of new, world power status brought increased respect from the other European world powers to the United States, and gave the United States a much larger role in the international affairs of the new century. For example, the United States would intervene in the First World War, becoming directly involved in a conflict between the European great powers for the first time. Due to the impact of this one event, in both the short and long term, it is appropriate to attempt to determine the cause and responsibility for the blast which destroyed the ship, on its one hundredth anniversary. Based on any conclusions reached in response to this question, we can also decide if the United States had a valid reason for going to war with Spain in 1898.

The Arrival of the USS MAINE in Havana Harbor

This entire process of the United States assuming the roleof a new great power began with the arrival of the battleship MAINE in Havana harbor as a result of a problem which had begun the year before. Having lived under Spanish colonial rule for four hundred years, the people of Cuba had launched the latest in a series of rebellions, with American sympathy and support, beginning in the late 1860's. In 1897, the senior American diplomat in Havana, Consul General Fitzhugh Lee, was becoming concerned for the safety of Americans in Cuba during the insurrection. There was a fair number of them, both businessmen interested in the sugar trade and rebel sympathizers working as mercenaries or smugglers of munitions and supplies.


Showing the flag at Havana in 1898. The first morning.

Beginning in December 1897, the MAINE was based at Key West, Florida in response to the Cuban situation, and for six weeks held in readiness to go to Cuba if Lee called for help. When no call for help had been received by the third week in January 1898, the commander of the MAINE, Captain Charles D. Sigsbee, had been told to join the other ships of the Navy's North Atlantic Squadron when it arrived there, and go with them to their winter base at the tiny islands of Dry Tortugas at the tip of the Florida Keys. The Squadron arrived at Key West on January 23, 1898, en route to Dry Tortugas, but they brought with them orders for Sigsbee from Washington, telling him to procede with the MAINE to Havana on a "friendly" visit. While the intention of this visit may have been no more than sending the MAINE on the completion of her mission to protect Americans in Cuba, it may also have been an attempt to influence Spanish policy in the rebellious colony, an early example of American battleship diplomacy. Another reason for the presence of the American warship was to enforce the Monroe Doctrine and ensure that another European power such as Germany did not attempt to take advantage of the instability on the island during rebellionto seize Cuba.

The USS MAINE in Havana Harbor

Whatever the motive, every attempt was made to make the visit appear friendly. The ship arrived in Havana harbor on January 25, 1898. Then, after sitting in Havana harbor for three weeks, the MAINE was torn apart by one or two explosions at 9:40 PM on the night of February 15, 1898, two days before the ship had been scheduled to leave Havana and return to New Orleans to show the flag at the upcoming Mardi Gras.



Later investigations revealed that more than five tons of powder charges for the vessel's six and ten-inch guns ignited, virtually obliterating the forward third of the ship. The remaining wreckage rapidly settled to the bottom of the harbor. Most of Maine's crew were sleeping or resting in the enlisted quarters in the forward part of the ship when the explosion occurred. Out of acrew of 374, 266 men lost their lives as a result of the disaster: 260 died in the explosion or shortly thereafter, and six more died later from injuries. Captain Sigsbee and most of the officers survived because their quarters were in the aft portion of the ship.

Spanish officials and the crew of the civilian steamer City of Washington acted quickly in rescuing survivors and caring for the wounded. The attitude and actions of the former allayed initial suspicions that hostile action caused the explosion, and led Sigsbee to include at the bottom of his initial telegram: "Public opinion should be suspended until further report."

The U.S. Navy Department immediately formed a board of inquiry to determine the reason for Maine's destruction. The inquiry, conducted in Havana, lasted four weeks. The condition of the submerged wreck and the lack of technical expertise prevented the board from being as thorough as later investigations. In the end, they concluded that a mine had detonated under the ship. The board did not attempt to fix blame for the placement of the device.



When the Navy's verdict was announced, the American public reacted with predictable outrage. Fed by inflammatory articles in the "Yellow Press" blaming Spain for the disaster, the public had already placed guilt on the Spanish government. Although he continued to press for a diplomatic settlement to the Cuban problem, President McKinley accelerated military preparations begun in January 1898 when an impasse appeared likely. The Spanish position on Cuban independence hardened, and McKinley asked Congress on 11 April for permission to intervene. On 21 April, the President ordered the Navy to begin a blockade of Cuba, and Spain followed with a declaration of war on 23 April. Congress responded with a formal declaration of war on 25 April, made retroactive to the start of the blockade.

The destruction of Maine did not cause the U.S. to declare war on Spain, but it served as a catalyst, accelerating the approach to a diplomatic impasse. In addition, the sinking and deaths of U.S. sailors rallied American opinion more strongly behind armed intervention.

In 1911 the Navy Department ordered a second board of inquiry after Congress voted funds for the removal of the wreck of Maine from Havana Harbor. U.S. Army engineers built a cofferdam around the sunken battleship, thus exposing it, and giving naval investigators an opportunity to examine and photograph the wreckage in detail. Finding the bottom hull plates in the area of the reserve six-inch magazine bent inward and back, the 1911 board concluded that a mine had detonated under the magazine, causing the explosion that destroyed the ship.



Technical experts at the time of both investigations disagreed with the findings, believing that spontaneous combustion of coal in the bunker adjacent to the reserve six-inch magazine was the most likely cause of the explosion on board the ship. In 1976, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover published his book, How the Battleship Maine Was Destroyed. The admiral became interested in the disaster and wondered if the application of modern scientific knowledge could determine the cause. He called on two experts on explosions and their effects on ship hulls. Using documentation gathered from the two official inquiries, as well as information on the construction and ammunition of Maine, the experts concluded that the damage caused to the ship was inconsistent with the external explosion of a mine. The most likely cause, they speculated, was spontaneous combustion of coal in the bunker next to the magazine.

Some historians have disputed the findings in Rickover's book, maintaining that failure to detect spontaneous combustion in the coal bunker was highly unlikely. Yet evidence of a mine remains thin and such theories are based primarily on conjecture. Despite the best efforts of experts and historians in investigating this complex and technical subject, a definitive explanation for the destruction of Maine remains elusive.

What Sank the Ship?

Ever since this catastrophe, there has been a mystery about what sank the ship. At first, it seemed that the ship had been attacked, either by gunfire or a mine in the harbor. Once it was determined that it had been a magazine explosion which actually destroyed the ship, the question remained of what caused the magazine to explode. There were two basic categories for all answers to this question. The explosion could have been triggered by a blast outside the ship, or by a blast or accident inside the ship.



One possible cause for an external blast was a mine. It could have been a part of the harbor defenses which had broken loose from its mooring and accidentally drifted into the ship. It could also have been deliberately placed where it would explode under the ship's keel. This second explanation of the intentional use of a mine was favored, based on the extent of theanti-Spanish feeling in the United States at that time, and on the coverage of the event by the "yellow press". Many people felt that when the MAINE arrived in Havana harbor, she had been directed by the Spanish authorities to a mooring where a mine had been planted for use against her.

Another possible cause of an external explosion was sabotage. A saboteur could have placed a homemade bomb on the hull of the ship or he could have left a homemade mine floating in the water near the MAINE, where she would strike it as she swung at her mooring. Because Cuba was in the midst of a violent revolution, this saboteur could have come from one of the factions fighting for control of the island. There were the Cuban rebels who were trying to gain their independence and could have attempted anything which they felt would hurt Spanish colonial rule. Fighting the rebels, in addition to the Spanish authorities, there were right wing radicals who also favored continued Spanish rule and hated the Americans for aiding the rebels and trying to influence Spanish policy.

[SAMWolf]

An Internal Explosion?

While most people have reached the conclusion that the MAINE was sunk by the external explosion of a mine, there was also the possibility that the explosion of the magazines was triggered by an internal fire or explosion. Like all warships, the MAINE was loaded with explosives and flammable materials, including the shells and powder for her guns, the coal used to fuel her engines, and paint supplies. As a result, the explosion could have been caused by an internal accident or intentional internal sabotage. Immediately after the explosion, this explanation was favored both by the Spanish authorities in Havana, as the one for which they could not have been blamed, by other foreign naval experts, and by some American observers. This disagreement over the cause of the disaster was a primary reason for the extent of the official and unofficial investigations into the disaster.

Captain Charles Sigsbee

When the first investigation into the event was being conducted, there was evidence against the external blast of a mine which seemed to indicate that the explosion was internal. While most members of the MAINE's crew and other witnesses reported having heard two explosions, some did say that there was only one explosion. Before it had been determined that the magazine had exploded, one explosion could have indicated that all the damage had been caused by one large, powerful mine. Once it had been proven that the magazine had exploded, a single explosion would have indicated that the magazine explosion had not been triggered by the external blast of a mine but rather by a fire on board the ship or by an accident in the magazine itself.

The validity of these conclusions is based on the assumption that the witnesses were able to distinguish the explosions. If the magazine explosion was indeed sparked by the external detonation of a mine, the two blasts could have occurred in such quick succession that some witnesses thought that they saw or heard one long, drawn out explosion rather than two distict blasts. One hundred years later, lacking the audio or video evidence upon which we have come to rely in so many more recent cases, there is no way to determine the nature of the explosion(s).

The plating at frames 17, 18, and 19 protrude from the water above and to the right of the small boat.

In addition, two circumstances had been missing which many observers believed would have been noticed in the event of an external, underwater explosion. One was a splash or geyser of water which none of the witnesses reported having seen being thrown up beside the ship at the time of the explosion. Many felt that this would have been indicative of an external explosion of a mine. The other was dead fish, which no one reported having found floating in Havana harbor on the morning after the disaster. Assuming that there were fish living in the polluted water of the harbor, it seemed that if there had been an explosion in the water, quite a few fish would have been killed and then found the next day.

Spontaneous Combustion

An internal explosion could have been caused by a fire on board the ship. One possible source for such a fire was spontaneous combustion of the coal in the bunkers, some of which were located next to the magazines, separated only by a bulkhead. This was a frequent problem on board coal-fired warships during the late nineteenth century. When a ship like the MAINE was carrying soft, bituminous coal, and the temperature in the bunker reached a high level, the coal could spontaneously ignite. This could be particularly dangerous in the bunkers near magazines. If there were a fire in such a bunker, it could heat the magazine enough to ignite the powder and cause an explosion. This explanation has been favored by those who believed that the blast was internal, from the time of the disaster. More recently, this was the theory which Admiral Hyman Rickover presented in his book, How the Battleship MAINE Was Destroyed, in 1976.

Spontaneous combustion in coal bunkers was a problem which had affected several US Navy ships built since the Civil War, apparently making this a reasonable explanation for an internal fire which could have triggered the magazine explosion. However, unlike the MAINE, none of these ships was known to have been lost as a result of these fires. Two years earlier, there had been spontaneous combustion on board the cruiser CINCINNATI while she was based at Key West. The fire had started in a bunker next to a magazine, heating the magazine to the point where the wooden boxes containing shells burned, and the loaded shells became charred, but they did not explode. It was soon noticed that a bulkhead had become red hot, and the bunker and magazine were quickly flooded. The CINCINNATI carried old-fashioned but chemically stable brown powder which did not explode even when heated to this point. Although the MAINE was armed mostly with the same type of powder when she exploded in 1898, she was also carrying between 1500 lbs. and one ton of less stable black powder, used for saluting, in the Reserve magazine. Apparently, the CINCINNATI was not carrying any black powder at the time of her fire.

In addition, experience with the hazard of spontaneous combustion had made the Navy aware of the problem, causing officers and crew to periodically check coal bunkers. The MAINE and other Navy ships also carried a thermostatically controlled fire alarm system in the coal bunkers which was designed to trigger fire alarms if the temperature in the coal bunkers reached a certain level, indicating that spontaneous combustion had occurred. These alarms could have been disregarded, however, because they had been known to have been triggered when temperatures in the bunkers reached levels below that at which they were set.

In the months after the MAINE disaster, there were at least two cases of spontaneous combustion on board other Navy ships, the battleship OREGON and the armored cruiser BROOKLYN. In mid-March 1898, the OREGON had been ordered to leave San Francisco and travel around Cape Horn to reinforce the US Navy in Caribbean. Spontaneous combustion occurred one week later, while she was steaming off the coast of Peru during this voyage. Her crew noticed smoke and heat in the forward section of the ship, which were traced to a coal bunker. A damage control team was then able to dig into the bunker, expose the smoldering coal, and douse the fire.

There was a similar fire in a bunker next to a magazine on board the BROOKLYN on May 16, 1898 while she was en route from Charleston, South Carolina to Key West in the middle of the night. The fire was detected by the thermometers in the bunkers, which activated the alarm system, giving the crew enough time to remove ammunition from the adjacent magazine and spew steam into the bunker to extinguish the fire. Since the same alarm system had been fitted on board the MAINE, it would seem that it would have been effective if spontaneous combustion had occurred on board the battleship in Havana harbor. In addition to these standard Navy procedures which would have reduced the likelihood of a bunker fire, there were other arguments against such an occurrence that night on the MAINE. While there were coal bunkers next to the magazines which exploded, some of these bunkers were not full on the night of the blast, and had been recently cleaned and painted. Also, Commander Wainwright, executive officer of the MAINE, had a reputation for caution and thorough safety procedures. As a result, the crew members had instructions to check the coal bunkers at regular intervals and to feel the bulkheads of bunkers for any sign of unusual heat when in passageways besidethem. However, there was one bunker, A-16, which was full ofcoal and abutted the Reserve magazine. It could have been the site of spontaneous combustion because ventilation, though good enough to allow combustion to occur, was not sufficient to prevent heat from rising to the point at which the coal could have begun to smolder.

Magazine Explosion



Another possible cause of the blast was the explosion of a magazine beginning in the magazine itself. This was the cause of accidental explosions which heavily damaged or destroyed nine other battleships around the world between 1900 and the end of the Second World War. There was one significant difference between these other, later explosions and the explosion on board the Maine in Havana harbor. Most of the later accidents involved ships carrying early smokeless powders which were chemically unstable and prone to explode as a result of chemical deterioration. The Maine, however, still carried the old fashioned brown and black powders which, though smoky when used, were much more stable and safer on board ship than the early smokeless powders. This made such a magazine explosion less likely.

Other factors against the possibility of an internal magazine explosion on board the MAINE were the strict safety procedures ordered by the cautious Captain Sigsbee. Whenever the magazines were opened, lights were put out, cigarettes extinguished, and the galley was sealed off. Sigsbee had even gone so far as to devise an item which he had added to the regular safety procedures. Anyone who went into the magazines had to wear soft cloth "antistatic slippers" over their shoes, which were intended to prevent the generation of static electricity sparks by regular shoe soles scraping the deck.

Other Causes of an Internal Explosion



There were several other possible causes of an internal explosion. One of these would have been a fire in the other flammable materials carried on board, such as the large quantity of paint needed each time the ship was painted, stored in the paint locker on board the ship. There was also little chance of this, though, because no one could gain access to this material without Sigsbee's knowledge, the key to the paint locker having been kept in the cautious Captain's cabin. The use of flammable paint in the recently painted coal bunkers near bunker A-16 could also have been a cause for trouble. If the combustibles which had entered the air as the paint dried had entered A-16, this could have increased the likelihood of spontaneous combustion there.

Another possible cause could have been internal sabotage, if a visitor to the ship had managed to smuggle a bomb on board and leave it where it would ignite a magazine, a coal bunker, or the paint locker. This could have happened if the crew of the ship had not watched visitors closely enough and had allowed them access to sensitive areas of the ship. Commander Wainwright's strict safety procedures also meant that there was little chance of internal sabotage on board the ship in Havana harbor. Because the visit was a friendly one, the ship could not be kept sealed off and visitors had to be allowed on board. Sigsbee had ordered several tight security measures while in Havana, though. One of these was that all visitors to the ship had to be kept under close surveillance, greatly reducing the possibility that one of these visitors could have left a bomb on board without being noticed. Thus, while an internal explosion was possible, it seems unlikely given the arguments against the possible causes for such an event.

[SAMWolf]

The Sampson Board's Court of Inquiry

This question of what destroyed the Maine was addressed by the two official inquiries conducted by the US Navy into the matter. The first US Navy Court of Inquiry to investigate the MAINE disaster, known as the Sampson Board and consisting of Captain William T. Sampson and three other officers, arrived atHavana on February 21, 1898. They listened to testimony from Captain Sigsbee, the officers and crew of the Maine, and other witnesses of the explosion. In addition, they also listened to the statements of divers who had been sent down to examine the wreck of the MAINE. These divers had a very difficult job, working around the jagged wreckage in the dirty, dark, almost opaque waters of the harbor.



After the Sampson Board completed its investigation and inquiries in 1898, it came to the conclusion that the MAINE had been destroyed by the explosion of the forward and reserve magazines of six-inch ammunition, both located in the forward part of the ship. The divers had reported that the port side of the ship where the forward reserve magazine for six-inch ammunition had been located was entirely gone. Apparently that magazine of secondary battery ammunition was a location of the explosion. Most of the testimony of the witnesses and the observations of the divers seemed to indicate that the explosion of these magazines had been triggered by an external blast. The majority of the witnesses testified that there had been two explosions, as would have been the case if the explosion of the magazines had been triggered by the blast of a mine outside the ship. Lt. John Blandin, officer of the deck at the time of the explosion, reported that he heard an explosion coming from the port side, forward. Another officer, Cadet Cluverius, was in his cabin writing a letter when the explosion occurred. He recalled hearing a report like the firing of a gun, followed by all the ship's lights going out, and then there was an "indescribable roar, a terrific crash, intense darkness ..."



Other witnesses on board other ships in the harbor alsoobserved two explosions. The American passenger steamer CITY OF WASHINGTON was moored aft of the MAINE. After 9:30 PM, two American tobacco dealers were sitting in deck chairs on her deck. One of them had just joked that they were well protected with the guns of the Maine commanding the city when he heard a sound like a cannon shot. He looked up and saw the bow of the MAINE rise up out of the water, apparently as a result of the force of the first blast beneath the forward end of the ship. Then he saw a huge, fiery explosion in the center of the ship, followed by thick black smoke and debris falling everywhere as they ran for cover. At the same time, the captain of their ship, Frank Stevens, heard a muffled blast which seemed to comefrom underwater, followed by a second explosion. When he saw what had happened, he ordered the ship's boats launched. Frederick Teasdale, captain of the British bark DEVA, was below deck on board his ship, berthed about one half mile south of the MAINE at a wharf in Regla, across the harbor from Havana. He felt his ship stagger, and he was afraid that she had been rammed by a steamer. This was apparently caused by a shock wave from the first blast, under water. He then ran on deck, in time to see the explosion of the Maine's magazines hurling debris and smoke across the harbor.



While inspecting the wreckage on the day after the disaster, several officers of the MAINE had noticed bottom plates, identifiable by their green anti-fouling paint, thrust up out of the water. Later, the divers had found the keel of the ship in an "inverted V" shape thrust upward to within eighteen inches of the harbor surface, more than thirty feet above its original position. They placed this bent section of the keel at about frame eighteen, near the bow, and it was interpreted as having been driven into the ship, and upwards, by a powerful outside force, such as the explosion of a mine, beneath the keel. Based on this evidence of an external explosion, the Sampson Board reached the conclusion that the MAINE had been destroyed by an external, submarine mine. If the mine had been a Spanish naval mine, it assumed that the mine was large, with a charge of several hundred pounds of high explosive guncotton which triggered the explosion of the magazines. With deliberations completed by the third week in March, their report was delivered to the Navy Department in Washington on March 25, 1898.

In addition, there were two pieces of information which the Sampson Board did not accept as evidence. One was that otherdivers had reported finding a hole in the ship's side with the edges bent inward, which seemed to indicate an external blast. The second was a hole in the harbor floor, filled with soft mud, opposite the hole in the ship's side, which some observers interpreted as having been caused by the same external blast. The Vreeland Board's Investigation



Twelve years later, in 1910, a second inquiry into the fate of the Maine was begun. At this time, many Americans wanted the remains of the men which had been left on board the Maine removed from the wreck and brought back to the United States for burial. Others wanted a second, more thorough investigation of the disaster. In addition, the Cubans wanted the wreck removed from Havana harbor, where it was a hazard to shipping. In response, Congress authorized the raising of the MAINE and appropriated funds for the project.

The job was given to the US Army Corps of Engineers, which constructed a water-tight elliptical cofferdam on the floor of Havana harbor around the wreck of the MAINE. After its completion in November, 1911, the water was pumped out from around the wreck inside the cofferdam. This left the wreck in the open air, where it was more easily and thoroughly examined by the new investigators, for the first time since it had sunk. A second board of inquiry, lead by Rear Admiral Charles E. Vreeland met on November 10. Their investigation was finished in several weeks and the report was sent to President Taft on December 14, 1911. The remains of the crewmen had been removed from the ship and taken back to the United States on board the armored cruiser NORTH CAROLINA for burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The wreck of the ship was then refloated, towed out to sea, and ceremonially scuttled on March 16, 1912.



When the Vreeland Board began their investigation in 1911, they were able to take a much better look at the wreck of Maine. They reached essentially the same conclusion as the Sampson board, differing only in detail They agreed that the magazine explosion had been triggered by an external blast, but that that the original charge was a low form of explosive, and that the original blast did not occur at frame eighteen as decided by the Sampson court. Instead, they placed the explosion further aft, between frames twenty-eight and thirty-three, where about 100 square feet of plating was dented in as much as two feet and torn irregularly, with the torn edges bent inward into the ship. According to the Vreeland Board, a large high explosive charge would have punched a clean hole in the side of the ship, rather than the large dent and ragged tear which they found. They decided that the bending of the keel into the "inverted V" shape had been caused by the explosion of the magazines.


Maine’s hulk was finally floated 2 February 1912 and towed out to sea where it was sunk in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico with appropriate ceremony and military honors 16 March.

Thus, the conclusion that the explosion which destroyed the ship was triggered by an external blast, as reached by both the Sampson and Vreeland inquiries, seems to be a valid one. Having reached that same conclusion, we still don't know what actually caused the blast. Was the MAINE destroyed by a Spanish mine, as so many believed in 1898, by sabotage, or by some kind of "infernal machine" ?

[SAMWolf]

GENERAL:


This stamp was released in the United States on February 15, 1998 to commemorate the centennial of the loss of the USS MAINE.

The USS MAINE was one of the first United States battleships to be constructed. The vessel's destruction in the Cuba Harbor of Havana was a catalyst in bringing war between the United States and Spain. The loss of the ship was tremendous shock to the United States since it represented virtually the state of the art of naval shipbuilding in the United States, only recently eclipsed by newer vessels. "Remember the Maine" became the battlelecry of the United States Military Forces in 1898.

BACKGROUND:

The USS MAINE was the second "second-class battleship" constructed for the U.S. Navy. The construction of the vessel was authorized by the U.S. Congress on August 3, 1886. MAINE took nearly nine years to complete. Three years had been spent waiting for her armor plating alone.


Mast of the USS Maine at Arlington National Cemetery

The USS MAINE was unique at the time in that she was purely the product of American naval design, and was built at a U.S. Naval Yard. By contrast, her contemporary, the USS TEXAS, was the product of a design competition, based on an English design, and constructed by a naval contractor. In fact, the USS MAINE is the largest vessel to be actually built in a U.S. Navy Yard.

The new battleship MAINE was a showpiece for the United States Navy and was given many ceremonial tasks. For instance, it took part in the 1897 Mardi Gras ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana along with the USS TEXAS. Between June and December 1897, the vessel could be found cruising off the coast of the United States between Virginia and Connecticut. On December 15, 1897, she got underway, heading south toward Florida and her final destiny.


This is a remarkable piece. It is the bowscroll of the USS MAINE which is in Davenport Park, which is on the corner of Main Street and Cedar Street a park in Bangor Maine.

The USS MAINE arrived in Cuba's Havana harbor on January 24, 1898. Because of propaganda from the U.S. newspapers and the Cuban Insurgents, the situation in Cuba was not fully understood in Washington DC. The U.S. Consul in Havana, Fitzhugh Lee, was also somewhat out of touch with the country in which he was living. In response to a small protest by Spanish officers, not affecting the United States, Washington sent the USS MAINE, under the command of Capt. Charles Sigsbee, to Cuba on a "friendly" visit. At about 9:30 PM on February 15, the MAINE was shattered by two separate explosions and rapidly sank. Two hundred and fifty-two men were killed. Ammunition continued to explode for hours after the blast.

After the disaster, U.S. newspapers were quick to place responsibility for the loss on Spain. In spite of the newspaper propaganda, an official court of inquiry was held by the U.S. Navy to determine the cause of the blasts. The Navy concluded that the ship was sunk by a mine which ignited the forward magazines, but stated that it could not fix responsibility upon any person or persons, including the government or military forces of Spain. Regardless of the reality of the situation, the loss of the USS MAINE had turned American popular opinion strongly in favor of war with Spain. Despite of his efforts to avoid war, President McKinley finally decided to militarily intervene in Cuba to end the ongoing unrest and "liberate" Cuba from Spanish rule. Later studies have indicated the possibility that the USS MAINE sunk as a result of a coal bunker fire adjacent to one of its ammunition magazines, and not a result of a Spanish mine.

Additional Sources:

www.history.navy.mil
www.oz.net
memory.loc.gov
etext.lib.virginia.edu
www.mainepbs.org
home.coqui.net
www.jamesaflood.com
www.chinfo.navy.mil
www.homeofheroes.com

[SAMWolf]

The USS MAINE rested on the floor of Havana Harbor until 1911. In that year, a cofferdam was built around the wreck. The hull was patched enough to enable it to float. Based on what was found, a second inconclusive court of inquiry was held, one of many to come. The wreck was then towed out of the harbor and sunk in sea. It now lies at a depth of thirty-six hundred feet.

Many momentos of the USS MAINE still exist. The mainmast is in Arlington National Cemetery, just outside of Washinton DC, and her foremast is near the seawall at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. One of her bow anchors is located in Reading, Pennsylvania's City Park at the first block of North 11th Street. Her capstan rests in the Battery in Charleston, South Carolina, and her bow scroll is in Bangor, Maine. Many pieces of the USS MAINE were made into small collectibles such as ashtrays, plaques, models, etc.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

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[snippy_about_it]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Sunday Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[The Mayor]

God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. —Psalm 47:7

To sing God's praise, keep your heart in tune with Him.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole. We're expecting a hard freeze tonight here in SW Ok.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

Beautiful day today.

[snippy_about_it]

I've noticed on more than one thread that when these ships are sunk ceremoniously (i.e., the Maine or ships destroyed in Pearl Harbor) the pictures show her colors still flying. I wonder do we let the flag go down with the ships. It's very moving and I wonder about the background and protocol.

Thanks for covering this topic today SAM. I prefer to agree with the witnesses aboard other ships in the harbor that night...an external blast to start of the chain of events.

[snippy_about_it]

Good Morning Mayor.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather. Warmer here today. Should be 69 degrees, tomorrow's high only calls for 34!

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning SAM.

Sad news from Iraq this morning. All our losses are hard to take but these murders are more difficult to take today.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on November 23:
912 Otto I (the Great) German king, Holy Roman emperor (962-73)
1221 Alfonso X (the Wise) king of Castile & Leon (1252)
1553 Prospero Alpini Italy, botanist/physician (De Medocoma Aegyptorum)
1749 Edward Rutledge (Gov-SC) signed Declaration of Independence
1804 Franklin Pierce 14th President (1853-1857)
1837 Javan der Waals Holland, physicist (Cont of Liquid & Gaseous States)
1859 Billy the Kid [William H Bonney], criminal
1860 Karl Branting Sweden, statesman/diplomat (Nobel Peace Prize 1921)
1862 Alberto Williams Buenos Aires Argentina, composer (Etrerno Reposo)
1876 Manuel de Falla C diz Spain, composer (El Amor Brujo)
1883 Jose Clemente Orozco Mexico, painter (Epic of Culture in New World)
1887 Boris Karloff [William H Pratt], Dulwich England, actor (Frankenstein)
1888 Harpo Marx [Adolph] NYC, actor/comedian (Marx brothers)
1894 Ture Persson Sweden, sprinter (Olympic-silver-1912)
1903 Victor Jory actor (Gone with the Wind, Papillon, Dodge City)
1915 Ellen Drew [Terry Ray], Kansas City MO, actress (Isle of Dead)
1915 John Dehner Staten Is NY, actor (Big Hawaii, Bare Essence)
1917 George O'Hanlon Brooklyn NY, actor (Calvin-Life of Riley, George Jetson)
1917 Michael Gough Malaya, actor (Search for the Nile)
1920 Paul Celan Romanian poet (Collected Prose)
1926 Don Gordon Los Angeles CA, actor (Prentiss-Lucan)
1928 Jerry Bock US, Broadway composer (Fiddler on the Roof)
1930 Robert Easton Milwaukee, actor (Someone Up There Likes Me)
1930 William E Brock (Sen-D- )/US Secretary of Labor (1985-87)
1931 Yevgeni Grischin USSR, 500m/1500m speed skater (Oly-gold-1956, 60)
1933 Hayes Jenkins US, figure skater (Olympic-gold-1956)
1933 Krzysztof Penderecki Debica Poland, composer (Hiroshima Threnody)
1935 Vladislav N Volkov cosmonaut (Soyuz 7, 11)
1938 Oscar Robertson NBA guard (Cin, Milwaukee, Olympic-gold-1960)
1939 Susan Anspach NYC, actress (Grace-Yellow Rose, Blume in Love)
1940 Gosta Pettersson Sweden, cyclist (Olympic-silver-1968)
1943 Andrew Goodman civil rights worker, murdered in 1964
1945 Steve Landesberg Bronx NY, comedian/actor (Barney Miller)
1951 Bernd Landvoigt German DR, coxless pairs (Olympics-gold-1976)
1951 David Rappaport London England, 3'11" actor (Wizard, Time Bandits)
1951 Jorg Landvoigt German DR, coxless pairs (Olympics-gold-1976)
1952 Francie Larrieu Smith US, track runner (AAU 1 mile-1979)
1956 Michael Brainard LA, actor (Joey Martin-All My Children)
1956 Shane Gould Australia, 200m/400m freestyle swimmer (Oly-gold-1972)
1958 David Wallace Miami, actor (General Hospital, Babysitter, Humongus)
1959 Maxwell Caulfield Derbyshire England, actor (Miles-The Colbys)

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Deaths which occurred on November 23:
0615 Columbanus, Irish explorer/monastery founder/poet/saint (Poenitentiale), dies (aka St. Columba)
1457 Ladislaus V (posthumus), king of Hungary/Bohemia, dies at 17
1499 Perkin Warbeck, Flemish sailor, hanged
1902 Walter Reed, US bacteriologist (Yellow Fever), dies
1910 Hawley H Crippen, doctor/murderer, hanged
1914 Elbrige Gerry VP (of Gerrymander fame), dies at 70
1962 Gloria Gordon actress (My Friend Irma), dies at 81
1972 Marie Wilson actress (My Friend Irma), dies at 56
1973 Paul Newlan actor (Capt Grey-M Squad)
1974 Cornelius Ryan, war reporter/historian (Bridge too Far), dies at 54
1976 Andre Malraux France, novelist/art historian/puplic office. ("The Voices of Silence"), dies at 75
1979 Merle Oberon actress (Assignment Foreign Legion), dies at 68
1982 Rev Grady Nutt actor (Hee Haw), dies at 47
1990 Bo Diaz catcher, crushed to death by a satellite dish, at 37
1990 Roald Dahl British short story writer, dies at 74
1991 Freddie Mercury lead singer of Queen, dies of aids at 46
1991 Klaus Kin ski, actor (Android, Nosferatu, Little Drummer Girl), dies at 65
1992 Ray Acuff, country singer who rode the "Wabash Cannonball" to fame and fortune, died of congestive heart failure at age 89.

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1968 CUTHBERT BRADLEY G.---FORT MADISON IA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/20/91]
1968 RUHLING MARK J.---PITTSBURGH PA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1969 JONES GRAYLAND...INDIANAPOLIS IN.
1971 ALTUS ROBERT W.---SHERIDAN OR.
1971 PHELPS WILLIAM---CORTLAND NY.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
1165 Pope Alexander III returns from exile to Rome
1584 English parliament expells the Jesuits
1765 People of Frederick County MD refuse to pay England's Stamp tax
1785 John Hancock is elected president of the Continental Congress for the second time
1832 French take Antwerp in liberation of Belgium
1835 Henry Burden patents Horseshoe manufacturing machine, Troy, NY
1848 Female Medical Educational Society founded in Boston
1852 Just past midnight, a sharp jolt causes Lake Merced to drop 30' (9m)
1863 Battle of Chattanooga begins
1863 Patent granted for a process of making color photographs
1868 Louis Ducos du Hauron patents trichrome color photo process
1876 Columbia, Harvard & Princeton form Intercollegiate Football Association
1887 Notre Dame loses its 1st football game 8-0 to Michigan
1887 The opera "The Trumpeter of Suckingen" 1st American production (NYC)
1899 1st jukebox (Palais Royal Hotel, San Francisco)
1903 Enrico Caruso US debut (Metropolitan Opera House, NY) in "Rigoletto"
1904 3rd Olympic games close in St Louis
1905 Henry Watson Furness, an Indiana physician, named minister of Haiti
1909 Wright Brothers forms million dollar corp to manufacture airplanes
1909 18.2 cm (7.17") of rainfall, Rattlesnake Creek, Idaho (state record)
1911 Post Hospital at Presidio, San Francisco renamed Letterman General Hospital
1921 Pres Harding signs Willis Campell Act (anti-beer bill) forbidding doctors from prescribing beer or liquor for medicinal purposes
1930 NY Giant Hap Moran runs 91 yards for a TD from a scrimmage
1936 1st issue of Life, picture magazine created by Henry R Luce
1942 Coast Guard Woman's Auxiliary (SPARS) authorized
1942 Steward Poon Lim set adrift for 133 days after his boat was torpedoed
1943 US forces seized control of Tarawa & Makin from Japanese
1947 Wash Redskin Sammy Baugh passes for 6 touchdowns vs Chi Cards (45-21)
1948 Lens to provide zoom effects patented-FG Back
1955 British transfer Cocos (Keeling) Is in Indian Ocean to Australia
1959 "Fiorello!" premiers on Broadway
1960 Tiros 2, a weather satellite is launched
1963 Horatio Alger Society founded
1963 JFK's body, lay in repose in East Room of White House
1964 Beatles release "I Feel Fine" & "She's a Woman"
1968 Milwaukee Bucks make their 1st NBA trade, giving Bob Love & Bob Weiss to Chicago Bulls for Flynn Robinson
1971 China People's Republic seated in UN Security Council
1975 Bob Thomas of Chicago Bears kicks 55-yard field goal
1977 European weather satellite Meteosat 1 launched from Cape Canaveral
1980 4,800 die in series of earthquakes that devastated southern Italy
1982 Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB and mated for STS-6
1982 NY Islanders & Minnesota North Stars play to an 8-8 tie
1985 58 die as Egyptian commandos storm hijacked Egyptair jet in Malta
1985 Retired CIA analyst Larry Wu-tai Chin, arrested of spying for China
1988 South Africa: Botha reprieves Sharpeville Six
1988 Wayne Gretzky scores his 600th NHL goal
1988 Yankees sign free agent 2nd-baseman Steve Sax to 3-year contract
1989 Pilots Union give up sympathy strike against Eastern Airlines
1991 Evander Hollyfield retains HW boxing title, KOs Bert Cooper in 7
1992 The United States lowered its flag over the last American base in the Philippines, ending nearly a century of military presence in its former colony.
2000 In a setback for Al Gore, the Florida Supreme Court refused to order Miami-Dade county officials to resume hand-counting election-day ballots. Meanwhile, Gore's lawyers argued in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that the high court should stay out of the Florida election controversy.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Japan : Labor Day/Thanksgiving
Maryland : Repudiation Day (1765)
Bern Switzerland : Onion Market Day-autumn festival (Monday)
US : Thanksgiving (Thursday)
US : Adoption Week Begins
US : Bible Sunday
US : Family Week Begins
Diabetic Eye Disease Month

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Religious Observances
RC : Solemnity of Christ the King
RC, Ang, Luth : Memorial of St Clement I, 4th pope (c 88-97) (opt)
RC : Memorial of St Columban, Irish monk, abbot (opt)

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Religious History
1654 French mathematician Blaise Pascal, 31, underwent a profound religious conversion. He thereupon abandoned his study of science, having realized that "the Christian religion obliges us to live only for God, and to have no other aim than him."
1729 German_born John Philip Boehm, 46, was formally ordained a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church. Boehm had previously come to America in 1720, where he began organizing religious services among German Reformed immigrants in Pennsylvania.
1742 English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'Two things I would earnestly recommend to your constant study: the book of God, and your own heart. These two, well understood, will make you an able minister of the New Testament.'
1947 E. L. Sukenik of Jerusalem's Hebrew University first received word of the existence of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The documents, dating between 200 BC and AD 70, had been accidentally discovered the previous winter (1946_47) by two Bedouin shepherds in the vicinity of Qumran.
1970 Pope Paul VI issued a decree barring cardinals over the age of 80 from voting for a new pope.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"The great thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving."

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Question of the day...
Can you be a closet claustrophobic?

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Murphys Law of the day...(Barr's Comment on Domestic Tranquility)
On a beautiful day like this it's hard to believe anyone can be unhappy -- but we'll work on it.

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Amazing fact #3...
Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Snippy.

Sad news today, and it's got my blood boiling. I'm so sick of this trying to fight a PC war. They're not gonna "like" us no matter what we do, so let's start fighting back like we meant it.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Mayor.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. We finally got some sun today but it's still cool.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Feather.

[snippy_about_it]

I know, me too. We were too quick to try and "make nice" with the enemy. I don't have kind words for our administration this morning I'm afraid. IMO, this is still a war, a WAR, not a diplomatic mission for God's sake! I better shut up now before I get into trouble.

[SAMWolf]

I wonder do we let the flag go down with the ships.

As far as I know we do. Seems a fitting end to a ship that served. Although I can understand the "scrapping" part in my mind, my heart hates hearing about warships being scrapped.