THE CATASTROPHE TO THE MAINE.
The Board of Inquiry in Session--Its Report Received by Congress
--Spanish Officials in Cuba Show Sympathy--The Evidence of the
Divers--A Submarine Mine--The Officers and Men of the Maine
Exonerated--Responsibility Not Fixed.
The story of the destruction of the battleship Maine has already
been told in these pages. The Naval Board appointed to inquire
into the causes of the disaster was composed of the following
officers of the United States Navy: Captain Sampson, of the Iowa;
Captain Chadwick, of the New York; Captain Marix, of the Vermont,
and Lieutenant Commander Potter, of the New York.
After an investigation which lasted for more than three weeks,
this Board of Inquiry sent its report to President McKinley, who
transmitted it to Congress, accompanied by the following message:
To the Congress of the United States:
For some time prior to the visit of the Maine to Havana harbor our
consular representatives pointed out the advantages to flow from
the visits of national ships to the Cuban waters, in accustoming
the people to the presence of our flag as the symbol of good will
and of our ships in the fulfillment of the mission of protection
to American interests, even though no immediate need therefor
might exist.
Accordingly, on the 24th of January last, after conference with
the Spanish Minister, in which the renewal of visits of our war
vessels to Spanish waters was discussed and accepted, the
peninsular authorities at Madrid and Havana were advised of the
purpose of this Government to resume friendly naval visits at
Cuban ports, and in that view the Maine would forthwith call at
the port of Havana. This announcement was received by the Spanish
Government with appreciation of the friendly character of the
visit of the Maine, and with notification of intention to return
the courtesy by sending Spanish ships to the principal ports of
the United States. Meanwhile the Maine entered the port of Havana
on the 25th of January, her arrival being marked with no special
incident besides the exchange of customary salutes and ceremonial
visits.
The Maine continued in the harbor of Havana during the three weeks
following her arrival. No appreciable excitement attended her stay; on
the contrary, a feeling of relief and confidence followed the resumption
of the long interrupted friendly intercourse. So noticeable was this
immediate effect of her visit that the Consul-General strongly urged
that the presence of our ships in Cuban waters should be kept up by
retaining the Maine at Havana, or, in the event of her recall, by
sending another vessel there to take her place.
At forty minutes past nine in the evening of the 15th of February
the Maine was destroyed by an explosion, by which the entire
forward part of the ship was utterly wrecked. In this catastrophe
two officers and two hundred and sixty-four of her crew perished,
those who were not killed outright by her explosion being penned
between decks by the tangle of wreckage and drowned by the
immediate sinking of the hull.
Prompt assistance was rendered by the neighboring vessels anchored
in the harbor, aid being especially given by the boats of the
Spanish cruiser Alphonse XII., and the Ward Line steamer City of
Washington, which lay not far distant. The wounded were generously
cared for by the authorities of Havana, the hospitals being freely
opened to them, while the earliest recovered bodies of the dead
were interred by the municipality in the public cemetery in the
city. Tributes of grief and sympathy were offered from all
official quarters of the island.
The appalling calamity fell upon the people of our country with
crushing force and for a brief time an intense excitement
prevailed, which in a community less just and self-controlled than
ours might have led to hasty acts of blind resentment. This
spirit, however, soon gave way to the calmer processes of reason
and to the resolve to investigate the facts and await material
proof before forming a judgment as to the cause, the
responsibility, and, if the facts warranted, the remedy. This
course necessarily recommended itself from the outset to the
Executive, for only in the light of a dispassionately ascertained
certainty could it determine the nature and measure of its full
duty in the matter.
The usual procedure was followed, as in all cases of casualty or
disaster to national vessels of any maritime state. A Naval Court
of Inquiry was at once organized, composed of officers well
qualified by rank and practical experience to discharge the duties
imposed upon them. Aided by a strong force of wreckers and divers,
the court proceeded to make a thorough investigation on the spot,
employing every available means for the impartial and exact
determination of the causes of the explosion. Its operations have
been conducted with the utmost deliberation and judgment, and
while independently pursued, no source of information was
neglected and the fullest opportunity was allowed for a
simultaneous investigation by the Spanish authorities.
REPORT OF THE BOARD RECEIVED.
The finding of the Court of Inquiry was reached after twenty-three
days of continuous labor, on the 21st of March, and having been
approved on the 22d by the commander-in-chief of the United States
naval forces of the North Atlantic station, was transmitted to the
Executive.
It is herewith laid before Congress, together with the voluminous
testimony taken before the court. Its purport is in brief as
follows:
When the Maine arrived at Havana she was conducted by the regular
government pilot to Buoy No. 5, to which she was moored in from
five and one-half to six fathoms of water. The state of discipline
on board and the condition of her magazines, boilers, coal bunkers
and storage compartments are passed in review, with the conclusion
that excellent order prevailed and that no indication of any cause
for an internal explosion existed in any quarter.
At eight o'clock in the evening of February 15th everything had
been reported secure and all was quiet. At forty minutes past nine
o'clock the vessel was suddenly destroyed. There were two distinct
explosions with a brief interval between them. The first lifted
the forward part of the ship very perceptibly; the second, which
was more open, prolonged and of greater volume, is attributed by
the court to the partial explosion of two or more of the forward
magazines.
The evidence of the divers establishes that the after part of the
ship was practically intact and sank in that condition a very few
minutes after the explosion. The forward part was completely
demolished. Upon the evidence of a concurrent external cause the
finding of the court is as follows:
At frame seventeen 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
after wing of which, about fifteen feet broad and thirty-two feet
in length (frame 17 to frame 25), is doubled back upon itself
against the continuation of the same place 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
plate. This break is now about six feet below the surface of the
water and about thirty feet above its normal position.
A SUBMARINE MINE.
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.
The conclusions of the court are: That the loss of the Maine was
not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any
of the officers or members of her crew;
That the ship was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine,
which caused the partial explosion of two or more of her forward
magazines; and
That no evidence has been obtainable fixing the responsibility for
the destruction of the Maine upon any person or persons.
I have directed that the finding of the Court of Inquiry and the
views of this Government thereon be communicated to the Government
of Her Majesty, the Queen Regent, and I do not permit myself to
doubt that the sense of justice of the Spanish nation will dictate
a course of action suggested by honor and the friendly relations
of the two governments.
It will be the duty of the Executive to advise the Congress of the
result, and in the meantime deliberate consideration is invoked.
(Signed,) WILLIAM McKINLEY. Executive Mansion, March 28, 1898.
REPORT OF THE INVESTIGATING BOARD.
The text of the report of the Board of Investigation was as
follows:
U. S. S. Iowa, first rate, Key West, Florida, Monday, March 21,
1898.
After full and mature consideration of all the testimony before
it, the court finds as follows:
1. That the United States battleship Maine arrived in the harbor
of Havana, Cuba, on the twenty-fifth day of January, Eighteen
Hundred and Ninety-eight, and was taken to Buoy No. 4, in from
five and a half to six fathoms of water, by the regular Government
pilot. The United States Consul-General at Havana had notified the
authorities at that place the previous evening of the intended
arrival of the Maine.
2. The state of discipline on board the Maine was excellent, and
all orders and regulations in regard to the care and safety of the
ship were strictly carried out. All ammunition was stowed in
accordance with prescribed instructions, and proper care was taken
whenever ammunition was handled. Nothing was stowed in any one of
the magazines or shell rooms which was not permitted to be stowed
there.
The magazine and shell rooms were always locked after having been
opened, and after the destruction of the Maine the keys were found in
their proper place in the Captain's cabin, everything having been
reported secure that evening at eight P. M. The temperatures of the
magazines and shell room were taken daily and reported. The only
magazine which had an undue amount of heat was the after 10-inch
magazine, and that did not explode at the time the Maine was destroyed.
The torpedo warheads were all stowed in the after part of the ship
under the ward room, and neither caused nor participated in the
destruction of the Maine. The dry gun cotton primers and
detonators were stowed in the cabin aft, and remote from the scene
of the explosion.
Waste was carefully looked after on board the Maine to obviate
danger. Special orders in regard to this had been given by the
commanding officer. Varnishes, dryers, alcohol and other
combustibles of this nature were stowed on or above the main deck
and could not have had anything to do with the destruction of the
Maine. The medical stores were stored aft under the ward room and
remote from the scene of the explosion. No dangerous stores of any
kind were stowed below in any of the other store rooms.
The coal blinkers were inspected daily. Of those bunkers adjacent
to the forward magazines and shell rooms four were empty, namely,
"B3, B4, B5 and B6." "A5" had been in use that day and "A16" was
full of new river coal. This coal had been carefully inspected
before receiving it on board. The bunker in which it was stowed
was accessible on three sides at all times, and the fourth side at
this time, on account of bunkers "B4" and "B6" being empty. This
bunker, "A16" had been inspected Monday by the engineer officer on
duty.
The fire alarms in the bunkers were in working order, and there
had never been a case of spontaneous combustion of coal on board
the Maine. The two after boilers of the ship were in use at the
time of the disaster, but for auxiliary purposes only, with a
comparatively low pressure of steam and being tended by a reliable
watch. These boilers could not have caused the explosion of the
ship. The four forward boilers have since been found by the divers
and are in a fair condition.
On the night of the destruction of the Maine everything had been
reported secure for the night at eight P. M. by reliable persons,
through the proper authorities, to the commanding officer. At the
time the Maine was destroyed the ship was quiet, and, therefore,
least liable to accident caused by movements from those on board.
3. The destruction of the Maine occurred at 9:40 P. M. on the 15th
day of February, 1898, in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, she being at
the time moored to the same buoy to which she had been taken upon
her arrival.
There were two explosions of a distinctly different character,
with a very short but distinct interval between them, and the
forward part of the ship was lifted to a marked degree at the time
of the first explosion.
The first explosion was more in the nature of a report, like that
of a gun, while the second explosion was more open, prolonged and
of greater volume. This second explosion was, in the opinion of
the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or more of the
forward magazines of the Maine.
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.
4. 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.
5. 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 after 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.
THE OFFICERS OF THE MAINE EXONERATED.
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.
6. 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 the officers or men of the crew of said vessel.
7. In the opinion of the court the Maine was destroyed by the
explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion
of two of her forward magazines.
8. 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.