The war with Spain is further commemorated by a silver loving cup[27]
presented to Rear Admiral Charles D. Sigsbee, U.S.N. Sigsbee,
commissioned captain in 1897, was in command of the battleship _Maine_
when she blew up in Havana harbor in 1898. A naval court of inquiry
exonerated Sigsbee, his officers, and crew from all blame for the
disaster; and the temperate judicious dispatches from Sigsbee at the
time did much to temper the popular demand for immediate reprisal.
The cup bears the following inscription:
The Commercial Club of St. Paul Minn. Sends Greetings to Capt.
Charles Dwight Sigsbee who as Commander of the Auxiliary Cruiser
St. Paul had a brilliant share in the Naval Exploits of the
Spanish War of 1898.
May you live long and prosper.
Marks on the cup are those of the Gorham Silver Company and the words
"Sterling," "Patented," and "5 pts."
Admiral Sigsbee achieved greater distinction for his services as a
scientist than as a naval hero. An outstanding hydrographer, he made a
deep-sea survey of the Gulf of Mexico, and from 1893 to 1897 he was
chief of the Navy's hydrographic office.