Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-03-28
CONpITION or THE SHIP.

had notified tine uutnpiltl's nj tnat
place the previous evening of the in
tended arrival of the Maine.
CONDITION OF THE SHIP.
2-The state of discipline Oh 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 slowed away
in accordance with Instructions, and
proper care was taken whenever am
munition was handled,
Nothing was stored in any one of the
magazines or shell rooms which was
not permitted to be slowed there.
The magazines and shell rooms were
always locked after having been
opened: and after the destruction OF
the Maine the keys were found in their
proper nlace in the captains cabin,
everything having been reported secure
that evening at pm.
The temperature of the magazines
and shell rooms were taken daily and
reported. The only magazine which
had an undue amount of heat was the
after ten-inch magazine and that did
not exploded at the time the Maine was
destroyed.
The torpedo war heads Were all
slowed in the after part of the ship
under the warm rooms, and neither
caused nor participated in the des-
tructiOn of the Maine
The dry gun cotton primers and de-
tunHtors We're slowed in the cabin aft
and remote from the scene Of the eN-
posion.
The waste was carefully looked after
on board the Maine 10 ohviote danger.
Special orders in regard to this had
been given by the commanding officer.
Varnlshes, dryers alcohol and other
combustibles of this nature were
slowed on or above the main deck and
could not have had anything to do with
the destruction Of the Maine,
The medical stores We're slowed aft
under the wnrdruum and remote from
the scene of the explosion
No dangerous stores Of any kind
were slowed below in any of the other
sturerooms.
The coal bunkers were inspected,
OF those bunkers adjoining the for
ward magazines and shell rooms, four
| We're empty, namely: b. 3, b. A, B. .,
| u. 6.
A. Is had been in use that date and
| \. 1G was full Of new river coal This
| coal had been carefully inspected be-
fore receiving It on board. The bunker
! in which It was slowed was accessible
on three sides nj all times and the
| fourth side at this time on account of
/ hunkers =. 4 and b. being empty
This bunker, a. lG, had been Inspected
that day by the engineer officer on
duty.
The fire alarms in the bunkers We're
I in working order and there had never
been case Of spontaneous combus-
| ton 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
I 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 for
nd 1..tfl. -
been found by the divers and are in a
fair condition.
/ on the night of the destruction of
the Maine everything had been re-
I ported secure for the night at pm.
| by reliable persons, through proper
authorities, TO the commanding OFFICER.
At the time the Maine was destroyed.
the ship was quiet. and therefore the
least liable to accident caused by
| movements from those on board
TWO EXPLOSIONS
3.-The destruction of the Maine &C.
CURED at $40 pm, on the 18th day of
/ February, 1895 In the harhur of Ha-
vana, Cuba, being at the time moored
in the very same buoy TO which she
had been taken upon her arrival
There We're two explosions of a dis
tinctly different character. a very
short. but distinct interval between
them and the forward part of the ship
was lifted to a marked degree ut the
time Of the first explosion.
The first explosion was more in the
nature of report, like that OF a gun,
while the second explosion was more
open, prolonged and of greater vol
ume. 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.
CONDITION OF THE WRECK.
4.-The evidence bearing on this, be-
ing principally obtained from divers
did not enable the court to form a
definite conclusion as to the condition
of the wreck, although 1t was estab-
lished that the after part of the shir
was practically intact. and sank in
| that condition n very few minutes
after the destruction of the forward
part,
The following facts in regard to the
| forward part of the ship are, however
established by the testimony:
That portion of the short side Of tho
protective deck which extends from
about frame 30 to about frame Il, was
blown up aft and over to port. The
main deck. from about 20 to Il. was
blown up aft and slightly over the
starboard, folding the forward part OF
the middle superstructure over and on
top Of the floor 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.
CAUSED BY A MINE EXPLOSION.
| Sat frame 10. the outer shell of the
ship, from point eleven and one half
feet from the middle line of the ship
and six feet above the keel, when its
normal position, has been forced up 50
as to he about four feet above the sur
face of the water, therefore about thir-
ty-four feet above where II would be
had the ship sunk unlniured. The out
side bottom plating is bent into a re-
versed shape, the after-winE OF which
about fiftecnfeet broad and thirty-twC
feet In length (from frame II to frame
25), is doubled back upon itself like the
continuation of the same plating ex-
tending forward,
At frame so the vertical keel Is broker
in two, and the Nat 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 30 feet above its
normal position. In the opinion of the
court this effect could have been pro-
duced only by the explosion Of a mine
situated under the bottom Of the shiT
at frame Is. and somewhat on the port
side OF the ship.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE COURT.
G.-The court finds that the loss OF
the Maine. on the occasion named was
not in any respect due to fault or 'ncgli.