The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-03-28
THE REPORT.
The following is the full text of the. re-
port of the Court of Inquiry
tt 6 8 IOWA. 1st Rate,

KEY WEST, Fla,
Monday March q, 1898.
After full and mature consideration OF
all the testimony before it, the court hnos
as follows -
i. That the United States battleship
Maine arrived in the harbor of Havana
Cuba. on the twenty fifth day of January
1898. and was taken to buoy no, :, ~ ~
water, by the regular Government pllot.
The United States Consul General at
Havana had notified the authorities at
that place, the previous evening, Oh tne
intended arrival of the Maine.
q The state of discipline on board the
Maine was excellent, and all orders and
safety of the ship were strictly carried
cut.
All ammunition was slowed in accord
ance with prescribed Instructions. ana
proper care was taken whenever anmuHl-
ton 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 opened,
and after the destruction of the Maine
the keys were found in their proper place
in the Captains cabin, everything hay-
ing been reported secure that evening al
forty minutes past nine in the evening.
The temperature of the magazine and
shell rooms were taken daily and re-
ported The only magazine which mad
an undue amount of heat was the after
plode at the time the Maine was de-
stroyed.
The torpedo war heads were all slowed
| in the after part of the ship under the
ward room and neither caused nor par
ticipated in the destruction OF the
Maine.
tors were slowed in the cabin aft, and
remote from the scene of the explosion.
Waste was carefully looked after on the
Maine to obviate danger. Special orders
in regard to this had been given by the
commanding officers. Varnishes, dryers,
alcohol and other combustibles of this
nature were stored 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 un-
der 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 forward
magazines and shell rooms. four were
| empty, namely, B 3, B A. B 5, B 6.
"A IS" had been in use that day, and
"a 16'' was full of New River coal. This
coal had been carefully inspected before
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 OF, punkers
stB A. and ssB g. being empty. This bunk
er. "a 49, had been inspected that day
by the engineer officer on duty.
The fire alarms in the bunkers were in
working order and there had never been
a 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 COM
paratively low pressure of steam and
being tended by a reliable watch. These
boilers could not have caused the ex,
pIosion of the ship. The four forward
| boilers have since been found by the
divers and are in fair condition.
| On the night of the destruction OF the
IL. \ 6xanr tod
cure for the night at eight P. NJ, by re-
liable persons through the proper au-
| thorities to the commanding officer: At
| ship was quiet, and therefore least LA
| BILE to accident caused by movements
| from those on board.
| 8. The destruction of the Maine oc-
Cured at $40 P. NJ. on the 18th day
of February, 1898, in the harbor of Hav--
ana, Cuba, she being at the time moored
| to the same buoy to which she had been
| taken upon her arrival.
| There were two explosions of a dis
| tinctly different character, with very
| short but distinct interval between them,
and the forward part of the ship was
| lifted to a marked degree at the time of
the first explosion. The first explosion
was more in the nature of a report, like
| sion was more open, prolonged and OF
greater volume 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.
| The evidence, bearing upon the condi-
| tion of the wreck being principally OBJ
court to n definite conclusion as to
| the condition of the wreck, although 1t
| was established that the after part of the
ship was practically intact and sank in
| that condition a very few minutes after
the destruction of the forward part
The following facts in regard to the for
ward part of the \ship are however es-
| tablished by the testimony
! That portion of the port side of the pro-
| tective deck which extends from about
| and over to port. The main deck from
| about frame 80 to about frame Al was
blown up aft, and Slightly over to star
| board folding the forward part of the
middle superstructure 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
u & At frame II 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 thirty-fOur
| feet above where it would be had the ship
| sunk uninjured. The outside bottom plat
! after wing of which about fifteen feet
broad and thirty feet in length Qrom
| frame II to frame 25) is doubled back upon
same same piaaing S ting extending forward. -
| All 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 below the surface of
| the water and about thirty feet above it's
normal position.
In the opinion of the court this effect
could have been produced only by the ex-
| plosion Of mine situated under the bot
1 tom Of the ship at about frame is and
| somewhat on the port side of the ship.
/ G. The court finds that the loss of the
| Maine on the occasion named was not
| in any respect due to fault or negligence
/ on the part of the officers or members Of
4 the crew of said vessel
i. m the opinion Of the court the Maine
| was destroyed by the explosion of SUBJ
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