The ship went down very soon, bow first, and many of the crew were
drowned in their quarters; the officers succeeded in getting three
boats into the water, both captain and crew acting in the coolest and
bravest manner conceivable.
Immediately after the explosion, the Spanish warship Alfonso XII. and
the passenger steamers in the harbor lowered boats and all that was
possible was done to save the few victims of the explosion scattered
over the waters.
Captain Sigsbee, who commanded the Maine, telegraphed to the Secretary
of the Navy: “Maine blown up in Havana harbor 9.40, and destroyed. Many
wounded and doubtless more killed and drowned. Wounded and others on
board Spanish man-of-war and Ward Line steamer. Send lighthouse tender
from Key West for crew and few pieces of equipment still above water.
No one had clothes other than those upon him.”
The news of the disaster was spread broadcast over the length and
breadth of the land.
The Maine was a battleship of the second class, and was regarded as one
of the best ships in the new navy. She was built at the Brooklyn Navy
Yard, and was 318 feet long, 57 feet broad, 21.6 feet mean draught, and
6682 tons displacement.
She had two ten-inch vertical turrets and two military masts, and her
motive power was furnished by twin screw vertical expansion engines,
having a maximum horse-power of 9293, capable of making a speed of
17.45 knots. She carried four ten-inch and six six-inch breech-loading
guns in her main battery and seven six-pounders and eight one-pound
rapid-fire guns and four Gatlings in her secondary battery, and four
Whitehead torpedoes.
The officers of the Maine were: Captain, Charles D. Sigsbee,
commanding; Lieutenant-Commander, Richard Wainwright; Lieutenants,
George F. W. Holman, John Hood, and Carl W. Jungen; Lieutenants (junior
grade), George P. Blow, John G. Blandin, and Friend W. Jenkins; Naval
Cadets, Jonas H. Holden, Walt T. Cluverius, Amon Bronson, and David
F. Boyd, Jr.; Surgeon, Lucien G. Heneberger; Paymaster, Charles W.
Littlefield; Chief Engineer, Charles P. Howell; Passed Assistant
Engineer, Frederick C. Bowers; Assistant Engineers, John R. Morris and
Darwin R. Merritt; Naval Cadets (engineer division), Pope, Washington,
and Crenshaw; Chaplain, John P. Chidwick; First Lieutenant of Marines,
Albertus W. Catlin; Boatswain, Francis E. Larkin; Gunner, Joseph Hill;
Carpenter, George Helms.
Upon receipt of Captain Sigsbee’s telegram, Secretary Long sent orders
to the lighthouse tenders at Key West to proceed at once to Havana.
Their orders were in plain language, thus avoiding the delay that would
have arisen from the use of cipher.
Divers were also sent from the United States to Havana, and on the
Sunday following brought up Captain Sigsbee’s money, papers, and
keys. The only question which arose between the Spanish and American
authorities was in regard to the right of the former to send divers
down to investigate the condition of the ship; and that was promptly
settled by an amicable arrangement that American divers should first do
what was possible in the way of interior examination and salvage, and
that Spanish divers should then be permitted to join them in the work
outside the vessel.
The most thoroughly equipped wrecking apparatus in the country was
sent to the scene of the disaster, but, after consultation between the
expert wreckers and the naval officers on the spot, it was decided that
all that could be done was to recover as many of the guns and other
valuable appurtenances of the Maine as possible, and then leave in
Havana harbor the smoke-begrimed wreck above which floated pathetically
the ensign of the United States. There was indeed little to save.
The great ship was literally riven apart from her keel up and from
her sharp-spurred prow to a point aft of her midship section. There
was scarcely a plate in her frame that was not sprung or shivered so
severely as to preclude the hope that she could ever be made worthy
of reconstruction. Work on the wreck was continued until early in
April, when the flag which had been kept flying over the remains of the
ill-fated ship was hauled down and the U. S. S. Maine declared out of
commission.
Immediately after the receipt of Captain Sigsbee’s telegram, the
administration ordered an investigation. The order was issued by
Admiral Sicard on Febuary 19th, and appointed a Court of Inquiry
consisting of Captain William T. Sampson, commanding the Iowa; Captain
French E. Chadwick, and Lieutenant-Commander William P. Potter, with
Lieutenant-Commander Adolph Marix as judge advocate.
The court met on February 21st, on board the United States lighthouse
tender Mangrove, in the harbor of Havana. The first day was taken
up with the examination of Captain Sigsbee. The second and third
days were largely taken up in the examination of survivors of the
explosion, giving their personal experience, and in detail explaining
the precautions taken at all times, and particularly while in Havana,
against any possible accident.
At the close of the third day, Ensign W. V. N. Powelson, serving on
board the lighthouse tender Fern, lying in the harbor of Havana,
appeared and gave the first testimony about the condition of the ship
as disclosed by the divers. Mr. Powelson is a young man who graduated
from Annapolis in 1895. He had paid special attention to construction,
and in spite of his youth was detailed to look after the divers. All
that he said on the first day was that apparently the explosion had
taken place on the port side, forward of amidships, and that the vessel
had been shifted by the explosion from port to starboard; that is,
from left to right. He was asked to continue his investigation, and
the examination of survivors continued, lasting for several days, and
including witnesses who were not on board the Maine at the time. The
testimony showed that there were two explosions, the first lifting
the forward part of the vessel considerably out of the water, and the
second, which almost immediately followed, was much louder and longer.
Diver Olsen then appeared and told of what he had been able to
discover. As he was not an educated man, and was not familiar with
construction, his testimony was not entirely intelligible. An
arrangement was then made by which all the divers were to report to Mr.
Powelson, who was to summarize their findings and to testify to the
same in the presence of the divers themselves.
[Illustration: U. S. S. KATAHDIN.
Steel harbor defense ram. Twin screw. No main battery. Secondary
battery, four 6-pounder rapid fire guns. Thickness of armor 6 inches at
top, 3 inches at bottom. 7 officers, 91 men.]
The testimony of some of the survivors was thrilling in the extreme.
Such hair-breadth escapes as some of them told seemed almost impossible
of belief. The court sat only six days in Havana, and then adjourned
on February 26th, to meet in Key West on February 28th, to take the
testimony of the survivors who had been sent there. In the meantime,
Mr. Powelson was directed to continue his work and report when the
court resumed.
The testimony at Key West occupied only three days, during which time
testimony was taken of the survivors and others which confirmed the
previous statement that there were two explosions, the first of which
lifted the Maine and the second destroyed her forward part.
On March 6th the court resumed its session in the harbor of Havana, and
Ensign Powelson was enabled to give testimony which showed conclusively
that the Maine was blown up by a submarine mine, and that this resulted
in the partial explosion of two or more magazines within the ship,
which completely destroyed the forward part of the Maine.
From the 10th to the 18th day, inclusive, the court again met in the
harbor of Havana, during which time Mr. Powelson produced a great deal
of corroborative testimony. It was shown that the boilers were in fair
condition in the after-part of the ship and had not exploded. These
were the only boilers under which there was fire at the time of the
explosion. Several of the divers found a deep hole near the ship’s ram,
but whether it was caused by the submarine mine or dug out by the end
of the ram as the forward part of the vessel sunk and turned over on
its side could not be definitely ascertained. Around the vessel was
found a great deal of powder mixed with the mud. When this was brought
up and fired it burned freely. It was the testimony of experts that
if the original explosion had taken place inside the Maine all of the
powder would have been consumed, or at least all of it would have been
consumed in those magazines which were affected. As a matter of fact,
it was found that in two magazines part of the powder had exploded and
a part of it had not, showing that the explosion did not take place
until the vessel was sinking and the powder in some places was wet.
A great many powder cans, as already stated, were found containing a
little powder, and many which had burst at the seams and had allowed
the powder to dissolve in the water.
The court left the harbor of Havana on March 14th and convened March
17th, on board the battleship Iowa, off Key West, where it met for five
days, going over the testimony and preparing the report. This report
was signed March 21st and sent to Admiral Sicard on board the flagship
New York, who approved it on the 22d of March and forwarded it to the
Secretary of the Navy, who in turn handed it to the President, who
sent it with a special message to Congress on March 28th. The court
was formally dissolved on the fifth day of April. As the report was of
great importance, it is here given in full: