New-York tribune., 1911-12-09
Board That Examined Wreck OF
BattIeship in Havana Har-
Dor Makes Its Final
Report.
EXPLOSIVE OF LOW FORM
That Term Taken to Indicate q
Mine-No Clew to Those Re-
sponsible for the Disaster
Full Report Not
Revealed.
- rhe TtInln. Bureau.

Washington Dec s.-The mystery
surrounding the origin of the explosion
which sent the battleship Maine TO the
bottom of Havana Harbor was definitely
cleared up by the report Of the navy
and army experts, laid before the Presi-
dent to-day. finding that the ship was
blown up from the outside The findings
of the board are contained In the fol-
lowing statement given out by Secre-
tary Meyer:
The board finds that tho injuries 10
the bottom Of tho Maine were caused oy
TIE explosion Of charge Of low torn
Of explosive exterior 10 the ship between
frames % and 81, strake 3, port SIDE
This resulted in gnitIng and exploding
the contents OF the six.inch reserve mag
! szne. Aim. said contents including
a large quantity Of black powder.
Tho more or less complete explosion
OF the contents Of the remaining forward
madazine followed. The magazine es'
| plosion resulted in the destruction of tho
! vessel.
Secretary Meyer does not believe II
necessary 10 issue any extended explena-
| ton OF the boards conclusions, beyond
the fat statement that an exterior eH-
| posion was responsible for the loss of
! the bs ttleship and the lives Of $50 men
! The Secretary said that there might Re
a further statement on the report Of the
board after II had been considered by
i the President. one member or the
board was Of the opinion that the report
never would be published in fun but
would be kept in the confidential ar
chves Of the Navy Department.
The declaration that a low form oteX-
plosive' was used In the outside eN-
ploson indicates a belief that mine
and not a drigible torpedo was the in
strument Of destruction. \ mine charged
with sufficient gunpovder TO blow iri The
bottom Of the ship must have weighed
several hundred pounds. To plant such
mine and Law the connections for ifs
discharge would have required the ser
vices of number of men.
Board Made Careful Examination.
The members OF the board. who hsvs
lust returned from Havana after max
ing a careful inspection Of the wreck or
the battleship laid bare by the army en-
eineers. are Rear Admiral Charles L.
yreeland, aid for inspections OF the
Navy Department r. NJ. Watt. Chief
Constructor of The navy; Colonel Wili-
lam VI. Black. president Of the army
board charged With the raising OF III,
wreck; Commander Joseph Straus, pow
der expert of the navy, who was for
merly in charge of the naval proving
ground at Indian Head and Is now as
sistant TO the aid for material, and Com
mander Charles Hughes of the Naval
Board Of Inspection.
The findings Of the board. which coin
eide with the conclusions reached by tho
Sampson board, which examined the
wreck Immediately after the explosion
eliminate the most important element
OF the mystery that has surrounded the
| disaster. The other element the agency
responsible for the exterior explosion
will probably never be cleared up. The
disaster might have been caused by
| Spanish mine, but whether the mins
was exploded by the Spanish or ~
Cubans who desired the Intervention of
the United States to bring about their
freedom is a question that still remains
TO be answered. Many naval experts
are of the opinion that the mine was ex-
ploded by Cubans knowing the location
OF the mines In the harbor, . ther by
gaining access to the casemates from
which the mines were controlled or by
making connections with the submerged
wires outside the easements. No lisht
whatever has been shed upon this phase
Of the disaster.
The report Of the Sampson board was
as follows:
At Frame Il. the outer shell ot the
shin. from point eleven and half feet
from middle line of the ship and six feet
above the keel when in its normal posi-
tion has been forced up, so as 10 be now
about four feet above the surface Of the
water. therefore about thrty-four feet
above wnere IL would be had the ship
sunk uninjured.
outside bottom plating is bent into
reverse Y shape, the after wing OF which,
about fifteen feet broad and thirty-two
feet in length (from Frame Il 10 Frame
25), Is doubled back upon itself against
the continuation OF the same pate, cx-
tending forward.
At Frame Is the vertical keel Is broken
i'm two and the fiat keel bent into an
angle similar 10 the angle formed by the
outside bottom plate. This break is now
six feet below the surface ~ the water
and about thirty feet above its normal
position.
In the opinion OF the court. this effect
could have been produced only by ox-
plosion OF a mine situated under the bot
tom OF the ship at about Frame Is, and
somewhat on the port side OF the snip.
The batteshlp Maine was sunk py AZ
explosion in Havana Harbor on the nigh;
81 February H. lS9s The lives OF ,G9 Z:
her crew were lost The situation in 'uos
had already caused strained rclati)p8 ne~
tween spain and the United states. and
popuiar sentiment at once 1ttg1but'd the
wreckiug OF the American warsh'2 % span
ish treachery Remember the Maine = c-
came the cry that fastened the Spanish
American war.
But even in America II was by no means
agreed that this charge against Spain was
a lust one. Captain SigSbee. nef command
er Immediately after the explosion sent 10
the Secretary OF the Navy this message:
"public opinion should be suspended pend
ing further report" Some argued that the
Names own magazine sent her 20 the bot
tom Others maintained that ;he Cubans
had perpetrated the OUTRAGE as !, means OF
innaming American sentim mt against