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USS Maine, a 6682-ton second-class battleship, was built at the New York Navy Yard and commissioned in September 1895. Her active career was spent operating along the U.S. east coast and in the Caribbean area. In January 1898, Maine was sent to Havana, Cuba, to protect U.S. interests during a time of local insurrection and civil disturbances. Three weeks later, on 15 February, the battleship was sunk by a massive explosion that killed the great majority of her crew.
While the cause of this tragedy has never been definitively resolved, it was a precipitating cause of the Spanish-American War that began in April 1898. In 1911-12, her hulk was raised from the bottom of Havana Harbor, towed several miles offshore and sunk with military honors.
This page features several views related to USS Maine and her crew.
See the page Sinking of USS Maine for views related to her loss.
If higher resolution reproductions than these digital images are desired, see "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
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Photo #: NH 46767 USS Maine (1895-1898) Launching, at the New York Navy Yard, 18 November 1889. Engraving copied from Scientific American magazine, Vol. 45, 1898. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 110,533 bytes; 740 x 640 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 60255-A USS Maine (1895-1898) Photographed circa 1895-98. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 55,102 bytes; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 61674 USS Maine (1895-1898) Retouched image of a photograph by A. Loeffler, with an inset portrait of her last Commanding Officer, Captain Charles D. Sigsbee, USN. This print was published as a memento following the ship's loss on 15 February 1898. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 74,190 bytes; 740 x 590 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 48621 USS Maine (1895-1898) Port quarter view, taken in Bar Harbor, Maine, 1895. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 76,024 bytes; 557 x 770 pixels |
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The following photographs show scenes taken on board USS Maine, or views of her personnel:
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Photo #: NH 48622 USS Maine (1895-1898) View looking forward on deck, port side, taken while the ship was visiting Bar Harbor, Maine, 1895. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 111,144 bytes; 567 x 760 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 50183 USS Maine (1895-1898) "Gunner's Gang", photographed in one of the ship's torpedo rooms. Halftoned photograph, published in Uncle Sam's Navy, 1898. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 127KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 46729 USS Maine (1895-1898) "Evening Amusements": crewmembers playing cards and reading in their berthing spaces, circa 1895-1898. Halftone photograph, copied from the contemporary publication Uncle Sam's Navy, 1898. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 94,594 bytes; 740 x 630 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 95096 Captain Charles D. Sigsbee, U.S. Navy, commanding officer of USS Maine when she was lost on 15 February 1898. Photograph published in Bohemia, 1904, by the International League of Press Clubs, opposite page 26. Courtesy of Larry Franklin, 1983. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 72,109 bytes; 428 x 720 pixels |
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