USS Maine ( ACR - 1 ) USS " Maine " ( ACR - 1 ) was the United States Navy ' s second commissioned battleship and the first U . S . Navy ship to be named after the state of Maine . Originally classified as an armored cruiser , she was built in response to the and the increase of naval forces in Latin America . " Maine " and her near - sister ship " Texas " reflected the latest European naval developments , with the layout of her main armament resembling that of the British ironclad " Inflexible " and comparable Italian ships . Her two gun turret s were staggered " en échelon " , one sponsoned out on each side of the ship , with cutaways in the superstructure to allow both to fire ahead , astern or across her deck . She dispensed with full masts thanks to the increased reliability of steam engines by the time of her construction . Despite these advances , the " Maine " was out of date by the time she entered service , due to her protracted construction period and changes in the role of ships of her type , naval tactics and technology . The general use of steel in warship construction precluded the use of ramming without danger to the attacking vessel . The potential for blast damage from firing end – on or cross – deck discouraged " en échelon " gun placement . The changing role of the armored cruiser from a small , heavily – armored substitute for the battleship to a fast , lightly – armored commerce raider also hastened her obsolescence . Despite these disadvantages , " Maine " was seen as an advance in American warship design . The " Maine " is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana Harbor on the evening of 15 February 1898 . Sent to protect U . S . interests during the Cuban revolt against Spain , she exploded suddenly without warning and sank quickly , killing nearly three quarters of her crew . The cause and responsibility for her sinking remained unclear after a board of inquiry . Nevertheless , popular opinion in the U . S . , fanned by inflammatory articles printed in the " Yellow Press " by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer , blamed Spain . The phrase " Remember the Maine , to Hell with Spain ! " became a rallying cry for action , which came with the Spanish – American War later that year . While the sinking of the " Maine " was not a direct cause for action , it served as a catalyst , accelerating the approach to a diplomatic impasse between the U . S . and Spain . The cause of the " Maine ' s " sinking remains the subject of speculation . Suggestions have included an undetected fire in one of her coal bunkers , a naval mine and her deliberate sinking to drive the U . S . into a war with Spain . Background . The delivery of the in 1883 and the acquisition of other modern armored warships from Europe by Brazil , Argentina and Chile shortly afterwards alarmed the United States government , as the Brazilian Navy was now the most powerful in the Americas . The Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee , Hilary A . Herbert , stated to Congress : " if all this old navy of ours were drawn up in battle array in mid - ocean and confronted by the " Riachuelo " it is doubtful whether a single vessel bearing the American flag would get into port . " These developments helped bring to a head a series of discussions that had been taking place at the Naval Advisory Board since 1881 . The Board knew at that time that the U . S . Navy could not challenge any major European fleet ; at best , it could wear down an opponent ' s merchant fleet and hope to make some progress through general attrition there . Moreover , projecting naval force abroad through the use of battleships ran counter to the government policy of isolationism . While some on the Board supported a strict policy of commerce raiding , others argued it would be ineffective against the potential threat of enemy battleships stationed near the American coast . The two sides remained essentially deadlocked until the " Riachuelo " manifested . The Board , now confronted with the concrete possibility of hostile warships operating off the American coast , began planning for ships to protect it in 1884 . The ships would have to fit within existing docks and had to have a shallow draft to enable them to use all the major American ports and bases . Its maximum beam was similarly fixed and the board concluded that at a length of about , the maximum displacement was thus about 7 , 000 tons . A year later the Bureau of Construction and Repair ( C & R ) presented two designs to Secretary of the Navy William Collins Whitney , one for a 7 , 500 - ton battleship and one for a 5 , 000 - ton armored cruiser . Whitney decided instead to ask Congress for two 6 , 000 - ton warships and they were authorized in August 1886 . A design contest was held , asking naval architect s to submit designs for the two ships : armored cruiser " Maine " and battleship " Texas " . It was specified that " Maine " had to have a speed of , a ram bow , double bottom , and be able to carry two torpedo boat s . Her armament was specified as : four guns , six guns , various light weapons , and six torpedo tubes . It was specifically stated that the main guns " must afford heavy bow and stern fire . " Armor thickness and many details were also defined . Specifications for " Texas " were similar , but demanded a main battery of two guns and slightly thicker armor . The winning design for the " Maine " was from Theodore D . Wilson , who served as chief constructor for C & R and was a member on the Naval Advisory Board in 1881 . He had designed a number of other warships for the Navy . The winning design for the " Texas " was from a British designer , William John , who was working for the Barrow Shipbuilding Company at that time . Both designs resembled the Brazilian battleship " Riachuelo " , having the main gun turrets sponsoned out over the sides of the ship and echeloned . The winning design for the " Maine " , though conservative and inferior to other contenders , may have received special consideration due to a requirement that one of the two new ships be American – designed . Congress authorized construction of " Maine " on 3 August 1886 , and her keel was laid down on 17 October 1888 , at the Brooklyn Navy Yard . She was the largest vessel built in a U . S . Navy yard up to that time . Design . " Maine ' s " building time of nine years was unusually protracted , due to the limits of U . S . industry at the time . ( The delivery of her armored plating took three years ) . A fire in the yard ' s drafting room , where " Maine ' s " working set of blueprint s were stored , caused further delay . In those nine years , naval tactics and technology changed radically and left " Maine ' s " actual role in the navy ill – defined . At the time she was laid down , armored cruisers such as " Maine " , were intended to serve as small battleships on overseas service and were built with heavy belt armor . Great Britain , France and Russia had constructed such ships to serve this purpose and sold others of this type , including the " Riachuelo " , to second – rate navies . Within a decade , this role had changed to commerce raiding , for which fast , long – range vessels , with only limited armor protection , were needed . The advent of lightweight armor , such as Harvey steel , made this transformation possible . ˝ As a result of these changing priorities , " Maine " was caught between two separate positions and could not perform either one adequately . She lacked both the armor and firepower to serve as a ship – of – the – line against enemy battleships and the speed to serve as a cruiser . Nevertheless , she was still expected to fulfil more than one tactical function . In addition , because of the potential of a warship sustaining blast damage to herself from cross – deck and end – on fire , " Maine ' s " main – gun arrangement was obsolete by the time she entered service . General characteristics . " Maine " was long overall , with a beam of , a maximum draft of and a displacement of . She was divided into 214 watertight compartments , with a centerline longitudinal watertight bulkhead separating the engines and a double bottom which covered the hull only from the foremast to the aft end of the armored citadel , a distance of . She had a metacentric height of as designed and was fitted with a ram bow . " Maine ' s " hull was long and narrow , more like a cruiser than that of " Texas " , which was wide – beamed . Normally , this would have made " Maine " the faster ship of the two . However , " Maine ' s " weight distribution was not well – balanced and this slowed her considerably . Her main turrets , awkwardly situated on a cut – away gundeck , were nearly awash in bad weather . Because they were mounted closer to the ends of the ship , away from its center of gravity , " Maine " was also prone to greater motion in heavy seas . While she and " Texas " were both considered seaworthy , the latter ' s high hull and guns mounted on her main deck made her the drier ship . The two main gun turrets were sponsoned out over the sides of the ship and echeloned to allow both to fire fore and aft . This met the demand at the time of " Maine ' s " design for heavy end - on fire in a ship – to – ship encounter , tactics for which involved ramming the enemy vessel . When approaching the enemy on a ramming course , having all guns trained , end – on , would theoretically allow the maximum firepower to be brought to bear and thus the potential for inflicting the greatest amount of damage . The wisdom of this tactic was purely theoretical , at the time it was implemented . The practice of " en echelon " mounting began with Italian battleships designed in the 1870s by Benedetto Brin and followed by the British Navy with HMS " Inflexible " , which was laid down in 1874 , launched two years later , but not commissioned until October 1881 . " Maine ' s " main armament layout limited her ability for broadside fire , a key factor when using a line of battle tactic . To allow for , at least , partial broadside fire , the superstructure was separated into three structures . This , technically , would allow both turrets to fire across the ship ' s deck ( cross – deck fire ) , between the sections . However , this ability was still limited , significantly , as the superstructure restricted each turret ' s arc of fire . This plan and profile view show the Maine with eight six pounder guns ( one is not seen on the port part of the bridge but that is due to the bridge being cut away in the drawing ) . Another early published plan shows the same . In both cases the photographs show a single extreme bow mounted six pounder . However , careful examination of Maine photographs confirm that the Maine did not carry that gun . The Maine ' s armament set up in the bow was not identical to the stern which had a single six pounder mounted at extreme aft of the vessel . The Maine carried two six pounders forward , two on the bridge and three on the stern section , all one level above the abbreviated gun deck that permitted the ten - inch guns to fire across the deck . The six pounders located in the bow were position more forward than the pair mounted aft which necessitated the far aft single six pounder . Propulsion . " Maine " was the first U . S . capital ship to have its power plant given as high a priority as its fighting strength . Her machinery , built by the N . F . Palmer Jr . & Company ' s Quintard Iron Works of New York , was the first designed under the direct supervision of Arctic explorer and soon – to – be Commodore George Wallace Melville for a major ship . She had two inverted vertical triple - expansion steam engines , mounted in watertight compartments and separated by a fore – to – aft bulkhead , with a total designed output of . The diameter of cylinders were ( high – pressure ) , ( intermediate – pressure ) and ( low – pressure ) . Stroke for all three pistons was . Mounting " Maine ' s " engines , with the cylinders in vertical mode , was a departure from conventional practice . Previous ships had had their engines mounted in horizontal mode , so that they would be completely protected below the waterline . Melville , who believed a ship ' s engines needed ample room and any exposed parts protected by an armored deck , rejected this , in favor of the greater efficiency , lower maintenance costs and higher speed that vertical mode offered . Also , the engines were constructed with the high – pressure cylinder aft and the low – pressure cylinder forward . This was done , according to the ship ' s chief engineer , A . W . Morley , so the low – pressure cylinder could be disconnected when the ship was under low power ; which would allow the high and intermediate – power cylinders to be run together as a compound engine for economical running . Eight single - ended Scotch marine boiler s provided steam to the engines at a working pressure of at a temperature . On trials , she reached a speed of , failing to meet her contract speed of . She carried a maximum load of of coal in 20 bunkers , 10 on each side , which extended below the protective deck . Wing bunkers at each end of each fire room extended inboard to the front of the boilers . This was actually a very low capacity for a ship of " Maine ' s " rating , which limited her time at sea and her ability to run at flank speed , when coal consumption increased dramatically . " Maine ' s " overhanging main turrets also prevented coaling at sea , except in the calmest of waters ; otherwise , the potential for damage to a collier , herself or both vessels was extremely great . " Maine " also carried two small dynamo s to power her searchlights and provide interior lighting . " Maine " was designed initially with a three - mast barque rig for auxiliary propulsion , in case of engine failure and to aid long – range cruising . This arrangement was to be limited to " two – thirds " of full sail power , the latter determined by a ship ' s tonnage and immersed cross – section . The mizzen mast was removed in 1892 , after the ship had been launched , but before her completion . " Maine " was completed with a two - mast military rig and the ship never spread any canvas . Armament . Main guns . " Maine " s main armament consisted of four / 35 cal Mark II guns , which had a maximum elevation of 15° and could depress to −3° . 90 rounds per gun were carried . The ten - inch guns fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of to a range of at maximum elevation . These guns were mounted in twin hydraulically powered turrets , the fore turret sponsoned to starboard and the aft turret sponsoned to port . The 10 " guns were to be mounted in open barbette s initially ( the C & R proposal blueprint shows them as such ) . During " Maine ' s " extended construction , the development of rapid – fire intermediate – caliber guns , which could fire high – explosive shells , became a serious threat and the Navy redesigned " Maine " with enclosed turrets . Because of the corresponding weight increase , the turrets were mounted one deck lower than planned originally . Even with this modification , the main guns were high enough to fire unobstructed for 180° on one side and 64° on the other side . They could also be loaded at any angle of train ; initially the main guns of " Texas " , by comparison , with external rammers , could be loaded only when trained on the centerline or directly abeam , a common feature in battleships built before 1890 . However by 1897 the Texas turrets had been modified with internal rammers to permit much faster reloading . The " en echelon " arrangement proved problematic . Because " Maine ' s " turrets were not counterbalanced , she heeled over if both were pointed in the same direction , which reduced the range of the guns . Also , cross – deck firing damaged her deck and superstructure significantly due to vacuum from passing shells . Because of this and the potential for undue hull stress if the main guns were fired end – on , the " en echelon " arrangement was not used in U . S . Navy design after " Maine " and " Texas " . Secondary and light guns . The six guns were mounted in casemate s in the hull , two each at the bow and stern and the last two amidships . Data is lacking , but they could probably depress to −7° and elevate to + 12° . They fired shells that weighed with a muzzle velocity of about . They had a maximum range of at maximum elevation . The anti - torpedo boat armament consisted of seven Driggs - Schroeder six - pounder guns mounted on the superstructure deck . They fired a shell weighing about at a muzzle velocity of about at a rate of 20 rounds per minute to a maximum range of . The lighter armament comprised four each Hotchkiss and Driggs - Schroeder one - pounder guns . Four of these were mounted on the superstructure deck , two were mounted in small casemates at the extreme stern and one was mounted in each fighting top . They fired a shell weighing about at a muzzle velocity of about at a rate of 30 rounds per minute to a range about . " Maine " had four above - water torpedo tube s , two on each broadside . In addition , she was designed to carry two steam - powered torpedo boat s , each with a single torpedo tube and a one - pounder gun . Only one was built , but it had a top speed of only a little over so it was transferred to the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport , Rhode Island as a training craft . Armor . The main waterline belt , made of nickel steel , had a maximum thickness of and tapered to at its lower edge . It was long and covered the machinery spaces and the 10 - inch magazines . It was high , of which was above the design waterline . It angled inwards for at each end , thinning to , to provide protection against raking fire . A 6 - inch transverse bulkhead closed off the forward end of the armored citadel . The forward portion of the thick protective deck ran from the bulkhead all the way to the bow and served to stiffen the ram . The deck sloped downwards to the sides , but its thickness increased to . The rear portion of the protective deck sloped downwards towards the stern , going below the waterline , to protect the propeller shafts and steering gear . The sides of the circular turret s were eight inches thick . The barbette s were twelve inches thick , with their lower portions reduced to ten inches . The conning tower had ten - inch walls . Its voicepipe s and electrical leads were protected by an armored tube thick . Two flaws emerged in " Maine ' s " protection , both being due to technological developments between her laying – down and her completion . The first was the lack of adequate topside armor to counter the effects of rapid – fire intermediate – caliber guns and high – explosive shells . This was a flaw she shared with " Texas " The second was the use of nickel steel armor . Introduced in 1889 , nickel steel was the first modern steel alloy armor and , with a figure of merit of 0 . 67 , was an improvement over the 0 . 6 rating of mild steel used until then . Harvey steel and Krupp armors , which both appeared in 1893 , had merit figures of between 0 . 9 and 1 . 2 , giving them roughly twice the tensile strength of nickel steel . Although all three armors shared the same density ( about 40 pounds per square foot ) , six inches of Krupp or Harvey steel gave the same protection as 10 inches of nickel . The weight thus saved could be applied either to additional hull structure and machinery or to achieving higher speed . The Navy would incorporate Harvey armor in the s , designed after " Maine " , but commissioned at roughly the same time . Launching and delay . " Maine " was launched on 18 November 1889 , sponsored by Alice Tracey Wilmerding , the granddaughter of Navy Secretary Benjamin F . Tracy . Not long afterwards , a reporter wrote for " Marine Engineer and Naval Architect " magazine , " It cannot be denied that the navy of the United States is making rapid strides towards taking a credible position among the navies of the world , and the launch of the new armoured battleship " Maine " from the Brooklyn Navy Yard . . . has added a most powerful unit to the United States fleet of turret ships . " In his 1890 annual report to Congress , the Secretary of the Navy wrote , " The " Maine " . . . stands in a class by herself " and expected the ship to be commissioned by July 1892 . A three – year delay now ensued , while the shipyard waited for nickel steel plates for " Maine ' s " armor . Bethlehem Steel Company had promised the Navy 300 tons per month by December 1889 and had ordered heavy casting s and forging press es from the British firm of Armstrong Whitworth in 1886 to fulfil its contract . This equipment did not arrive until 1889 , pushing back Bethlehem ' s timetable . In response , Navy Secretary Benjamin Tracy secured a second contractor , the newly – expanded Homestead mill of Carnegie , Phipps & Company . In November 1890 , Tracy and Andrew Carnegie signed a contract for Homestead to supply 6000 tons of nickel steel . However , Homestead was , what author Paul Krause calls , " the last union stronghold in the steel mills of the Pittsburgh district . " The mill had already weathered one strike in 1882 and a lockout in 1889 in an effort to break the union there . Less than two years later , came the Homestead Strike of 1892 , one of the largest , most serious disputes in U . S . labor history . Operations . " Maine " was commissioned on 17 September 1895 , under the command of Captain Arent S . Crowninshield . On 5 November 1895 , " Maine " steamed to Sandy Hook Bay , New Jersey . She anchored there two days , then proceeded to Newport , Rhode Island for fitting out and test firing of her torpedoes . After a trip , later that month , to Portland , Maine , she reported to the North Atlantic Squadron for operations , training manoeuvres and fleet exercises . " Maine " spent her active career with the North Atlantic Squadron , operating from Norfolk , Virginia along the East Coast of the United States and the Caribbean . On 10 April 1897 , Captain Charles Dwight Sigsbee relieved Captain Crowninshield as commander of " Maine " . Crew . The ship ' s crew consisted of 355 : 26 officers , 290 sailors , and 39 marines . Of these , there were 261 fatalities : Of the 94 survivors , only 16 were uninjured . Sinking . In January 1898 , " Maine " was sent from Key West , Florida , to Havana , Cuba , to protect U . S . interests during the Cuban War of Independence . Three weeks later , at 21 : 40 on 15 February , an explosion on board " Maine " occurred in the Havana Harbor ( coordinates : 23°08 ′ 07 ″ N 82°20 ′ 38 ″ W ) . Later investigations revealed that more than of powder charges for the vessel ' s six and ten - inch guns had detonated , obliterating the forward third of the ship . The remaining wreckage rapidly settled to the bottom of the harbor . Most of " Maine " s crew were sleeping or resting in the enlisted quarters , in the forward part of the ship , when the explosion occurred . In total 266 men lost their lives as a result of the explosion or shortly thereafter , and eight more died later from injuries . Captain Sigsbee and most of the officers survived , because their quarters were in the aft portion of the ship . Altogether , though , there were only 89 survivors , 18 of whom were officers . On 21 March , the US Naval Court of Inquiry , in Key West , declared that a naval mine caused the explosion . The " New York Journal " and " New York World " , owned respectively by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer , gave the " Maine " intense press coverage , but employed tactics that would later be labeled " yellow journalism . " Both papers exaggerated and distorted any information they could attain , sometimes even fabricating " news " when none that fitted their agenda was available . For a week following the sinking , the " Journal " devoted a daily average of eight and a half pages of news , editorials and pictures to the tragedy . Its editors sent a full team of reporters and artists to Havana , including Frederic Remington , and Hearst announced a reward of $ 50 , 000 " for the conviction of the criminals who sent 258 American sailors to their deaths . " The " World , " while overall not as lurid or shrill in tone as the " Journal , " nevertheless indulged in similar theatrics , insisting continually that the " Maine " had been bombed or mined . Privately , Pulitzer believed that " nobody outside a lunatic asylum " really believed that Spain sanctioned the " Maine ' s " destruction . Nevertheless , this did not stop the " World " from insisting that the only " atonement " Spain could offer the U . S . for the loss of ship and life , was the granting of complete Cuban independence . Nor did it stop the paper from accusing Spain of " treachery , willingness , or laxness " for failing to ensure the safety of Havana Harbor . The American public , already agitated over reported Spanish atrocities in Cuba , was driven to increased hysteria . The " Maine ' s " destruction did not result in an immediate declaration of war with Spain . However , the event created an atmosphere that virtually precluded a peaceful solution . The Spanish – American War began in April 1898 , two months after the sinking . Advocates of the war used the rallying cry , " Remember the " Maine ! " To Hell with Spain ! " The episode focused national attention on the crisis in Cuba , but was not cited by the William McKinley administration as a casus belli , though it was cited by some hawks already inclined to go to war with Spain over perceived atrocities and loss of control in Cuba . Investigations . In addition to the Inquiry commissioned by the Spanish Government to naval officers Del Peral and De Salas , two Naval Courts of Inquiry were ordered : The Sampson Board in 1898 and the Vreeland board in 1911 . In 1976 , Admiral Hyman G . Rickover commissioned a private investigation into the explosion , and the National Geographic Society did an investigation in 1999 , using computer simulations . All investigations agreed that an explosion of the forward magazines caused the destruction of the ship , but different conclusions were reached as to how the magazines could have exploded . 1898 Del Peral and De Salas Inquiry . The Spanish inquiry , conducted by Del Peral and De Salas , collected evidence from officers of naval artillery , who had examined the remains of " Maine " . Del Peral and De Salas identified the spontaneous combustion of the coal bunker , located adjacent to the munition stores in the Maine , as the likely cause of the explosion , however the possibility of other combustibles causing the explosion such as paint or drier products was not discounted . Additional observations included that : The conclusions of the report were not reported at that time by the American press . 1898 Sampson Board ' s Court of Inquiry . In order to find the cause of the explosion , a naval inquiry was ordered by the United States shortly after the incident , headed by Captain William T . Sampson . Ramón Blanco y Erenas , Spanish governor of Cuba , had proposed instead a joint Spanish - American investigation of the sinking . Captain Sigsbee had written that " many Spanish officers , including representatives of General Blanco , now with us to express sympathy . " In a cable , the Spanish Minister of Colonies , Segismundo Moret , had advised Blanco “ to gather every fact you can , to prove the " Maine " catastrophe cannot be attributed to us . ” According to Dana Wegner , who worked with U . S . Admiral Hyman G . Rickover on his 1974 investigation of the sinking , the Secretary of the Navy had the option of selecting a board of inquiry personally . Instead , he fell back on protocol and assigned the commander – in – chief of the North Atlantic Squadron to do so . The commander produced a list of junior line officers for the board . The fact that the officer proposed to be court president was junior to the captain of the " Maine " , Wegner writes , " would indicate either ignorance of Navy regulations or that , in the beginning , the board did not intend to examine the possibility that the ship was lost by accident and the negligence of her captain . " Eventually , Navy regulations prevailed in leadership of the board ; Captain Sampson being senior to Captain Sigsbee . The board arrived on 21 February and took testimony from survivors , witnesses and divers ( who were sent down to investigate the wreck ) . The Sampson Board produced its findings in two parts : the proceedings , which consisted mainly of testimonies , and the findings , which were the facts , as determined by the court . Between the proceedings and the findings , there was , what Wegner calls , " a broad gap " , where the court " left no record of the reasoning that carried it from the often – inconsistent witnesses to [ its ] conclusion . " Another inconsistency , according to Wegner , was that of only one technical witness , Commander George Converse , from the Torpedo Station at Newport , Rhode Island . Captain Sampson read Commander Converse a hypothetical situation of a coal bunker fire igniting the reserve six – inch ammunition , with a resulting explosion sinking the ship . He then asked Commander Converse about the feasibility of such a scenario . Commander Converse " simply stated , without elaboration , that he could not realize such an event happening . " The board concluded that " Maine " had been blown up by a mine , which , in turn , caused the explosion of her forward magazines . They reached this conclusion , based on the fact that the majority of witnesses stated that they had heard two explosions and that that part of the keel was bent inwards . The official report from the board , which was presented to the Navy Department in Washington , D . C . on 21 March , specifically stated the following : 1911 Vreeland Board ' s Court of Inquiry . In 1910 , the decision was made to do a second Court of Inquiry . The reasons for this were the recovery of the bodies of the victims , so they could be buried in the United States and also a desire for a more thorough investigation . The fact that the Cuban government wanted the wreck removed from Havana Harbor might also have played a role : it at least offered the opportunity to examine the wreck in greater detail than had been possible in 1898 , while simultaneously obliging the Cubans . Wegner suggests that the fact that this inquiry could be held without the pending risk of war , which had been the case in 1898 , lent it the potential for greater objectivity than had been possible previously . Moreover , since several of the members of the 1910 board would be certified engineers , they would be better qualified to evaluate their findings than the line officers of the 1898 board had been . Beginning in December 1910 , a cofferdam was built around the wreck and water was pumped out , exposing the wreck , by late 1911 . Between 20 November and 2 December 1911 , a court of inquiry headed by Rear Admiral Charles E . Vreeland inspected the wreck . They concluded that an external explosion had triggered the explosion of the magazines . However , this explosion was farther aft and lower powered than concluded by the Sampson Board . The Vreeland Board also found that the bending of frame 18 was caused by the explosion of the magazines , not by the external explosion . After the investigation , the newly located dead were buried in Arlington National Cemetery and the hollow , intact portion of the hull of " Maine " was refloated and ceremoniously scuttled at sea on 16 March 1912 . 1974 Rickover investigation . Admiral Hyman G . Rickover became intrigued with the disaster and began a private investigation , in 1974 . Using information from the two official inquiries , newspapers , personal papers and information on the construction and ammunition of " Maine " , it was concluded that the explosion was not caused by a mine . Instead spontaneous combustion of coal in the bunker , next to magazine , was speculated to be the most likely cause . Rickover published a book about this investigation , " How the Battleship Maine Was Destroyed " , in 1976 . In the 2001 book " Theodore Roosevelt , the U . S . Navy and the Spanish – American War " , Wegner revisits the Rickover investigation and offers additional details . According to Wegner , Rickover inquired with naval historians , at the Energy Research and Development Agency , about the " Maine " , after reading an article in the " Washington Star - News " in which its author , John M . Taylor , claimed the U . S . Navy , " made little use of its technically trained officers during its investigation of the tragedy . " The historians , then working with the admiral on a study of the U . S . navy ' s nuclear propulsion program , said they knew no details on the " Maine " sinking . When Rickover asked whether they could investigate the matter , the historians , now intrigued , agreed . Knowing of Rickover ' s " insistence on thoroughness , " Wegner says , all relevant documents were obtained and studied . These included the ship ' s plans and weekly reports of the unwatering of the " Maine " , in 1912 , by the chief engineer for the project , William Furgueson . These reports included numerous photos , annotated by Furgueson with frame and strake numbers on corresponding parts of the wreckage . Two experts on naval demolitions and ship explosions were brought in . Since the photos showed " no plausible evidence of penetration from the outside , " they believed the explosion originated inside the ship . Wegner suggests that a combination of naval ship design , and a change in the type of coal used to fuel naval ships , might have facilitated the explosion postulated by the Rickover study . Up to the time of the " Maine ' s " building , he explains , common bulkheads separated coal bunkers from ammunition lockers and American naval ships burned primarily smokeless anthracite coal . With an increase in the number of steel ships , the U . S . Navy switched to bituminous coal , which burned at a hotter temperature than anthracite coal , and allowed ships to steam faster . However , Wegner explains , while anthracite coal was not subject to spontaneous combustion , bituminous coal was considerably more volatile . In fact , bituminous coal is known for releasing the largest amounts of firedamp , a dangerous and explosive mixture of gases . Firedamp is explosive at concentrations between 4 % and 16 % , with most violence at around 10 % . A number of bunker fires had , in fact , been reported aboard U . S . warships before the " Maine ' s " explosion , in several cases nearly sinking the ships . Wegner also cites a 1997 heat transfer study which concluded that a coal bunker fire , of the type suggested by Rickover , could have taken place and ignited the ship ' s ammunition . 1998 National Geographic investigation . In 1998 , " National Geographic Magazine " commissioned an analysis by Advanced Marine Enterprises ( AME ) . This investigation , done to commemorate the centennial of the sinking of " Maine " , was based on computer modeling , a technique unavailable for previous investigations . The conclusions reached were inconclusive ; the magazine reported that " a fire in the coal bunker could have generated sufficient heat to touch off an explosion in the adjacent magazine [ but ] on the other hand , computer analysis also shows that even a small , handmade mine could have penetrated the ship ' s hull and set off explosions within . " The AME investigation , however , did note that " the size and location of the soil depression beneath the " Maine " ' is more readily explained by a mine explosion than by magazine explosions alone ' " . The team noted that this was not " definitive in proving that a mine was the cause of the sinking " although it did " strengthen the case " . Some experts , including Admiral Rickover ’ s team and several analysts at AME , do not agree with the conclusion . Wegner claims that technical opinion among the " Geographic " team was divided between its younger members , who focused on computer modeling results , and its older ones , who weighed their inspection of photos of the wreck with their own experience . He adds that the data AME used for its findings were flawed concerning the " Maine ' s " design and ammunition storage . Wegner was also critical of the fact that participants in the Rickover study were not consulted until AME ' s analysis was essentially complete , far too late to confirm the veracity of data being used or engage in any other meaningful cooperation . 2002 History Channel ' Unsolved History ' investigation . In 2002 , " The History Channel " produced an episode of the ' Unsolved History ' documentaries titled ' Death of the U . S . S . Maine ' that utilized pictures , naval experts , and archival information to determine the cause of the explosion . The conclusion was that a coal bunker fire caused the explosion , and a weakness or gap was identified in the bulkhead separating the coal and powder bunkers , which allowed the fire to spread from the coal bunker to the powder bunker . False flag conspiracy theories . It has been suggested by some that the sinking was a false flag operation conducted by the U . S . This is the official view in Cuba . Cuban officials argue that the U . S . may have deliberately sunk the ship to create a pretext for military action against Spain . The wording on the Maine monument in Havana describes " Maine " s sailors as " victims sacrificed to the imperialist greed in its fervor to seize control of Cuba " , which " alludes to the theory that U . S . agents deliberately blew up their own ship to create a pretext for declaring war on Spain " . Eliades Acosta , a prominent Cuban historian , head of the Cuban Communist Party ' s Committee on Culture and former director of the Jose Marti National Library in Havana , offered the standard Cuban interpretation of the sinking of the Maine : that the United States itself probably did it , in an interview to " The New York Times " . But Dr . Acosta adds that " Americans died for the freedom of Cuba , and that should be recognized . But others wanted to annex Cuba , and that should be criticized . If relations with the United States improve , all these things can be re - examined more fairly " . This claim has also been made in Russia . Mikhail Khazin , a Russian economist who once ran the cultural section at Komsomolskaya Pravda , speaking in a 2008 Pravda interview of the need in troubled times to change the psychology of society , to unite it , said that " the Americans blew up their own battleship " Maine " . " Operation Northwoods was a series of proposals prepared for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962 , setting out a number of proposed false flag operation s that could be blamed on the Cuban Communists in order to rally support against them . One of these suggested that a U . S . Navy ship be blown up in Guantanamo Bay deliberately . In an echo of the yellow press headlines of the earlier period , the specific phrase " A ' Remember the Maine ' incident " was used . Raising and final sinking . For several years , " Maine " was left where she sank in Havana Harbor , although it was evident she would have to be removed sometime . " Maine " took up valuable space and the buildup of silt around her hull threatened to create a shoal . In addition , various patriotic groups wanted mementos of the ship . On 9 May 1910 , Congress authorized funds for the removal of " Maine " , the proper interment in Arlington National Cemetery of the estimated 70 bodies still inside , and the removal and transport of the main mast to Arlington . Congress did not demand a new investigation into the sinking , at that time . The Army Corps of Engineers built a cofferdam around " Maine " and , when the cofferdam was completed , pumped water out from inside it . By 30 June 1911 , " Maine ' s " main deck was exposed . The ship forward of Frame 41 was entirely destroyed ; a twisted mass of steel out of line with the rest of the hull , all that was left of the bow , bore no resemblance to a ship . The rest of the wreck was badly corroded . Army engineers dismantled the damaged superstructure and decks , which were then dumped at sea . About halfway between bow and stern , they built a concrete and wooden bulkhead to seal the after - section , then cut away what was left of the forward portion . Holes were cut in the bottom of the after - section , through which jets of water were pumped , to break the mud seal holding the ship , then plugged , with flood cocks , which would later be used for sinking the ship . On 13 February 1912 , the engineers let water back into the interior of the cofferdam . Three days later , the interior of the cofferdam was full and " Maine " floated . Two days after that , " Maine " was towed out by the tug . The bodies of her crew were then removed to the armored cruiser for repatriation . On 16 March , " Maine " was towed four miles from the Cuban coast by " Osceola " , escorted by " North Carolina " and the light cruiser . Her sea cocks were opened and she sank in of water to the salutes of " Birmingham " and " North Carolina " . During the salvage , remains of 66 more were found , of whom only one ( an engineering officer ) was identified and returned to his home town ; the rest were reburied at Arlington Cemetery making a total of 229 buried there . Rediscovery . For many years , the location of the wreck was not revealed . The wreck of the USS " Maine " was eventually rediscovered by Advanced Digital Communications , a Toronto - based expedition company in about 3 , 770 feet ( 1 , 150 m ) of water roughly 3 miles ( 4 . 8 km ) northeast of Havana Harbor . The company had been working with Cuban scientists and oceanographers from the University of South Florida College of Marine Science on testing underwater exploration technology . The ship had been discovered east of where it was believed the ship had been scuttled ; according to the researchers , during the sinking ceremony and the time it took the wreck to founder , currents pushed the Maine east until it came to rest at its present location . Before the team identified the site as the " Maine " , they referred to the location as the " square " due to its unique shape , and at first they did not believe it was the ship , due to its unexpected location . The site was explored via a ROV . According to Dr . Frank Muller - Karger , the hull was not oxidized and the crew could " see all of its structural parts " . The expedition was able to identify the ship due to the doors and hatches on the wreck , as well as the anchor chain , the shape of the propellers , and the holes where the bow was cut off . Due to the 1912 raising of the ship , the wreck was completely missing its bow ; this tell - tale feature was instrumental in identifying the ship . The team also located a boiler near by , and a debris field of coal . Memorials . Arlington , Annapolis , Havana . In February 1898 , the recovered bodies of sailors who died on " Maine " were interred in the Colon Cemetery , Havana . Some injured sailors were sent to hospitals in Havana and Key West , Florida . Those who died in hospitals were buried in Key West . In December 1899 , the bodies in Havana were disinterred and brought back to the United States for burial at Arlington National Cemetery . In 1915 , President Woodrow Wilson dedicated the " USS Maine " Mast Memorial to those who died . The memorial includes the ship ' s main mast . Roughly 165 were buried at Arlington — although the remains of one sailor were exhumed for his home town . Of the rest , only 62 were known . Nine bodies were never recovered and 19 crewmen , buried in Key West Cemetery , remain there under a statue of a U . S . sailor holding an oar . The explosion - bent fore mast of " Maine " is located at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis , Maryland , causing a traditional in - joke among midshipmen that " Maine " , with its main mast in Arlington National Cemetery ( Northern Virginia ) and its fore mast in Annapolis , is the " longest ship in the Navy " . In 1926 , the Cuban government erected a memorial to the victims of " Maine " on the Malecon , near the Hotel Nacional , to commemorate United States assistance in acquiring Cuban independence from Spain . The memorial was damaged by crowds , following the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961 , and the eagle on top was broken and removed . The Communist government then added its own inscription blaming " imperialist voracity in its eagerness to seize the island of Cuba " for the Maine disaster . The monument was cleaned and restored in 2013 . However , the eagle ' s head was retained by the U . S . Interests Section in Havana , and the body by the city ' s museum . USS Maine Monument , New York City . In 1913 , a USS " Maine " Monument designed by Harold Van Buren Magonigle was completed and dedicated in New York City . Located at the southwest corner of Central Park at the Merchants ' Gate entrance to the park , the monument consists of a pylon with a fountain at its base and sculptures by Attilio Piccirilli surrounding it . A sculpture group of gilded bronze figures atop the pylon represent Columbia Triumphant , her seashell chariot being drawn by three hippocamp i . The bronze for this group reportedly came from metal recovered from the guns of the " Maine " . On the park side of the monument is fixed a memorial plaque that was cast in metal salvaged from the ship . It is not known how many of these plaques by sculptor Charles Keck were produced , but they can be found in many locations across the United States . They were cast by the Jno Bronze Foundry and widely publicized . References . Bibliography Further reading . In fiction