Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1898-04-01
REPORT OF COURT OF INQUIRY
THERE WERE TWO EXPLOSIONS
Result Of the lnvestiRHtiOn of the
WreckinE Of the Datt1eshtp
Maine In Havana H0rlDOr-NO One
ON Board 10 blame.

Washington. March 27.-The report
of the court of inquiry which investigat.
ed the wrecking of the battleship Maine
is made up of eight parts as follows;
First-The court finds that at the time
of the explosion the battleship Maine
was lying in five and one-half to six faith
oms of water.
Second-The discipline aboard the ship
was excellent; everything stored accord.
ing to discrimination, guns, stores,
etc. The temperature of the magazines
at p. m. was nominal, except in the
after l0-inch magazine, and that did not
explode.
Third-The explosion occurred at 9:4O
o'clock on the evening of February Is.
There were two explosions, with'a short
interval between them. The ship lifted on
the first explosion.
Fourth-Thec curt can form no definite
opinion of the condition of the wreck
from the divers evidence except as to the
technical details of the wreckage. from
which the court deduces that mine was
exploded under the ship on the port side.
Sixth-The explosion was due to no
fault of those on board.
Seventh-The opinion of the court
states that the explosion Of the mine
caused the explosion of two magazines.
! Eighth-The court declares that il can
not find evidence to fix responsibility.
Report IL Unanimous.
| The report is unanimous, and is signed
by all the members of the court. 1t does
not refer to the existence or nOn-existence
Of the mine in the haibor of Havana, ex
cept in the specific findings that mine
was exploded under the ship and the
magazines was caused by the explosion Of
a mine.
The report as whole is Il formal, dis.
passionate recital OF facts and bears the
stamp of that strict offcialism which
marks naval procedure. II is brief not
exceeding 1900 words. and among the
eight points goes to the greatest length
under the second heading. which deals
with the discipline and order Of the ship.
This the court specifies with extreme mi
nuteness, the smallest detail of the sat
isfactory condition Of everything on
board being given. The normal temper,-
ture of the large forward magazines ut
o'clock-only an hour and 40 minutes be,
fore the explosion -disposes of the ques-
ton of accidental combustion from in
ternal causes, they are nevertheless OF
the opinion that the explosion of the
mine under the port side Of the ship caus
ed the explosion Of the two magazines
This will explain the remarkable destruc
ton wrought, the explosion thus being
shown to have combined the force of Il
mine without and the two magazine.
within. The two explosions, which the
court finds to have occurred with shor,
interval between them, is an additional
detail showing that two forces operated
in causing the destruction. The fndin:
that the ship lifted on the first explos
ion indicates an external source, and ON,
of tremendous power, to be able to lift ;
battleship of thousands of tons. Thu
character of the wreckage, technically de
scribed in the fifth part OF the report
from which the court deduces that a min
was exploded under the ship on the por
side, sustains the view taken by sOm
experts shortly after the disaster, tina
the force of the explosion was exerted iron
port To starboard.
Captain Sigsbee ExOnerated.
The feature of the report of deepest in
terest to the navy is the complete exon
Grafton of Captain Sigsbee and all OF
board contained in the second finding
setting forth the perfect order and dis
cipline prevailing on the ship, and NOR
directly stated in the sixth finding, whicl
declares the disaster to be due to no faul
of those on board.
The inability of the court to find evi
dence to fix the responsibility, as state'
in the eighth part, makes the report s.
guarded in expression of blame tina