FOUR. The evidence bearing upon this, being principally obtained
from divers, did not enable the court to form a definite conclusion
as to the condition of the wreck, although it was established that
the after-part of the ship was practically intact and sank in that
condition a very few minutes after the destruction of the forward
part.
The following facts in regard to the forward part of the ship are,
however, established by the testimony:
That portion of the port side of the protective deck which extends
from about frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown up aft and over to
port. The main deck, from about frame 30 to about frame 41, was blown
up aft and slightly over to starboard, folding the forward part of
the middle superstructure over and on top of the after-part.
This was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial
explosion of two or more of the forward magazines of the Maine.
FIVE. At frame 17 the outer shell of the ship, from a point eleven
and one-half feet from the middle line of the ship and six feet above
the keel, when in its normal position, has been forced up so as to be
now about four feet above the surface of the water; therefore about
thirty-four feet above where it would be had the ship sunk uninjured.
The outside bottom plating is bent into a reversed V-shape, the wing
of which, about fifteen feet broad and thirty-two feet in length
(from frame 17 to frame 25), is doubled back upon itself against the
continuation of the same plating extending forward.
At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two, and the flat keel
bent into an angle similar to the angle formed by the outside bottom
plating. This break is now about six feet below the surface of the
water, and about thirty feet above its normal position.
In the opinion of the court, this effect could have been produced
only by the explosion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship
at about frame 18, and somewhat on the port side of the ship.
SIX. The court finds that the loss of the Maine, on the occasion
named, was not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part
of any of the officers or members of the crew of said vessel.
SEVEN. In the opinion of the court, the Maine was destroyed by the
explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of
two or more of her forward magazines.
EIGHT. The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing the
responsibility for the destruction of the Maine upon any person or
persons.
W. T. SAMPSON, Captain, U. S. N.,
President.
A. MARIX, Lieutenant-Commander, U. S. N.,
Judge Advocate.
The court, having finished the inquiry it was ordered to make,
adjourned at 11 A. M., to wait the action of the convening authority.
W. T. SAMPSON, Captain, U. S. N.,
President.
A. MARIX, Lieutenant-Commander, U. S. N.,
Judge Advocate.
U. S. Flagship New York,
March 22, 1898.
Off Key West, Florida.
The proceedings and findings of the Court of Inquiry in the above
case are approved.