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.
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