"Remember the Maine" Topic

Apprentice First Class Ambrose Ham was signal boy of the watch when the USS Maine arrived at the Spanish-owned island of Cuba on 25 January 1898. Tensions were high in the battleship as she slowly steamed into Havana Harbor, and though Ham remembered that "everything looked peaceful," he heard another Sailor tell two friends, "We'll never get out of here alive."…

USNI: link

Early 20th century was a time where naval safety was still in its infancy : explosion of battleships was by no means an uncommon occurrence. In the course of 4 years (1907-1911) 2 major units of the French navy, battleships Iena & Liberté, exploded in Toulon. This was a case of unstability of the explosives used to propel shells, the infamous Poudre B.

link

Furthermore, as far downtime as 1917, it is suspected – and highly likely – that the same thing could have occurred in HMS Vanguard, due to faulty cordite. In the case of USS Maine, though indeed no clear cut conclusion has been reached, the highest probability is that of an accident. At the time, it would have been difficult to run against the assertions of Mr Hearst's media, for whom it was a good pretext to start a "splendid little war", and without a clear will to assess the causes without prejudice, the possibility to do so was fast disappearing.

Whatever these were, Mr Ham's testimony is an excellent reminder of the horror of a disaster on a man-of-war.
Thanks for sharing.

I had a relative on the Maine who died.

Wolfhag

The USS Maine has always fascinated me as a ship. Its story is a tragic event that changed history. I'm from Puerto Rico and the explosion of the USS Maine and the Spanish-American war that followed ended Spanish rule here and we became a territory of the United States. Does anyone know where to find or buy an STL file for a model of the USS Maine?