Related Resource: The Destruction of USS Maine

USS Maine, a second-class battleship built between 1888 and 1895, was sent to Havana in January 1898 to protect American interests during the long-standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. In the evening of 15 February 1898, Maine sank when her forward gunpowder magazines exploded. Nearly three-quarters of the battleship's crew died as a result of the explosion.

While the cause of this great tragedy is still unsettled, contemporary American popular opinion blamed Spain, and war followed within a few months. Maine's wreck was raised in 1912 to clear the harbor and to facilitate an investigation into the cause of her sinking. Her remains were subsequently scuttled in deep waters north of Havana.

This page features views related to the loss of USS Maine.

USS Maine (1895-1898) for other images related to this ship.

Click photograph for a larger image.

Photo #: NH 48619 USS Maine (1895-1898) Passing Morro Castle as she entered Havana harbor, Cuba, on 25 January 1898. She was destroyed by explosion there some three weeks later, on 15 February. Halftoned original image. NHHC Collection Online Image: 58,333 bytes; 440 x 740
Photo #: NH 61236 USS Maine (1895-1898) Is destroyed by explosion, in Havana Harbor, Cuba, 15 February 1898. Artwork, copied from the contemporary publication Uncle Sam's Navy. NHHC Collection Online Image: 79,920 bytes; 590 x 775
Photo #: NH 46774 USS Maine (1895-1898) U.S. Navy diving crew at work on the ship's wreck, in 1898, seen from aft looking forward. NHHC Collection Image: 69,531 bytes; 743 x 490
Photo #: NH 46765 Loss of USS Maine, 15 February 1898. Funeral procession for crewmen killed when the ship exploded, in the streets of Havana, Cuba, shortly after the disaster. Retouched halftone photograph, copied from Uncle Sam's Navy, Volume IV, Number 3, 19 April 1898. NHHC Collection Online Image: 91,410 bytes; 740 x 605
Photo #: NH 46764 USS Maine Court of Inquiry, 1898. Members of the Navy Court of Inquiry examining Ensign Wilfrid V. Powelson, on board the U.S. Light House Tender Mangrove, in Havana Harbor, Cuba, circa March 1898. Those seated around the table include (from left to right): Captain French E. Chadwick, Captain William T. Sampson, Lieutenant Commander William P. Potter, Ensign W.V. Powelson, Lieutenant Commander Adolph Marix. Photograph copied from Uncle Sam's Navy, 12 April 1898. NHHC Collection Online Image: 92,583 bytes; 740 x 625
Photo #: NH 48273 Fitzhugh Lee United States Consul General in Havana, Cuba, when the USS Maine was lost on 15 February 1898. Halftone photograph taken in 1894, copied from Uncle Sam's Navy, Volume IV, Number 3, 19 April 1898. NHHC Collection Online Image: 78,006 bytes; 595 x 775

For higher resolution images see: Obtaining Photographic Reproductions