Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-03-31
A SUBMARINE NINE
Cansed the Destruction Of the Maine
and Her Grew.
THE INQUIRY BOARD so REPORTS

| The First Explosion Caused q Partial
Explosion of Two of Her Forward
observation-disclosures Fix Responsible
ity-President's Message to Congress
Washington, March 28.-FoIlowing is
the full text of the report of the court
of inquiry appointed to investigate the
disaster to the Maine at Havana:
United States Steamer Iowa, First
! Rate, Key West, Fla, Monday.
March 81, 1898.
| After full and mature consideration
Of all the testimony before it, the court
finds as follows:
| 1. That the United States battleship
Maine arrived in the harbor of Havana
Cuba, on the 25th day of January, 1898,
and was taken to buoy No. 4, in from
five to six fathoms Of water, by the
regular government pilot
The United States consul general at
Havana had notified the authorities
at that place, the previous evening, of
the intended arrival of the Maine.
2. The state of discipline on 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 in ac-
cordance with prescribed Instructions
and proper care was taken whenever
ammunition was handled.
| Nothing was slowed 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 open
l 81 NJ Of of
/ Maine the keys were found in their
| proper place in the captains cabin
everything having been reported secure
that evening at p. m. The tenn
| peratures of the magazine and shell
room were taken daily and reported
The only magazine which had an I'M
/ due amount of heat was the after ten
inch magazine, and that did not ex-
| plode at the time the Maine was de-
| stroyed.
/ The torpedo warheads were all stow
| ed in the after part of the ship under
the ward room, and neither caused
nor participated in the destruction of
| the Maine.
The dry gun cotton primers and de-
| tonators were slowed in the cabin aft
and remote from the scene of the ex-
plosion.
Waste was carefully looked after on
board the Maine to obviate danger
Special orders in regard to this had
| been given by the commanding officer
Varnishes. dryers, alcohol and other
| combustibles of this nature were stow
| ed on or above the main deck and
could not have had anything to do
with the destruction of the Maine.
The medical stores were slowed aft
under the ward room and remote from
the scene of the explosion.
No dangerous stores of any kind were
slowed below in any of the other store
rooms.
The coal bunkers were inspected daily
| Of those bunkers adjacent to the for
ward magazines and shell rooms four
were empty, namely, B 3, B 4, B S, B g.
| A 5 had been in use that day, and
A 16 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 at all times, and the
| fourth side at this time on account of
bunkers and B being empty. This
| bunker, A 16, had been inspected Mon
! day by the engineer officer on duty
The fire alarms in the bunkers were
in working order, and there had never
| been case of spontaneous combustion
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 a
| comparatively low pressure of steam
and being tended by reliable watch
| These boilers could not have caused
the explosion of the ship. The four
forward boilers have since been found
| by the divers and are in a fair con-
| dition.
On the night of the destruction of
| the Maine everything had been re-
| ported secure for the night at D. m.
| by reliable persons, through the proper
| authorities, to the commanding of
f1cer. At the time the Maine was de-
stroyed the ship was quiet, and there
fore least liable to accident caused by
movements from those on board
3. The destruction of the Maine &C.
| Cured at $40 o. m. on the 18th day of
February, 1898, in the harbor of Ha-
vana, Cuba, she being at the time
moored to the same buoy to which she
had been taken upon her arrival.
| a
tinctly different character with very
short but distinct interval between
! them, and the forward part of the
| ship was lifted to marked degree at
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 vuI-
4 mi
the opinion of the court, caused by the
partial explosion of two or more of
| the forward magazines of the Maine.
4. The evidence bearing upon this, be-
| ing principally obtained from divers,
did not enable the court to form a def
mite conclusion as to the condition of
the wreck, although it was established
that the after part of the ship was
practically intact and sank in that
condition 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 port side of the
protective deck which extends from
about frame 80 to about frame Il was
blown up aft, and over to port. The
main deck from about frame 30 to
about frame Al was blown up aft, and
slightly over to starboard, folding the
forward part of the middle superstruc-
ture over and on top of the after 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
$. At frame Il 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 in its
normal position has been forced up so
as to be now about four feet above the
surface of the water; therefore, about
| S4 feet above where it would be had the
ship sank uninjured. The outside bot
tom plating is bent into a reversed v
shape, the after wing of which, about
is feet broad and 80 feet in length
| (from frame II to frame 25), is doubled
back upon itself against the continue
ton of the same plating extending for
ward
At frame Is the vertical keel is
broken in two, and the fiat keel bent
into an angle similar to the angle
| formed by the outside bottom plating.
This break is now about six feet be-
low the surface of the water, and
about 80 feet above its normal posi-
| ton.
In the opinion of the court this eff
feet could have been produced only by
the explosion of mine situated under
the bottom of the ship at about frame