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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
901 M STREET SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images
Sinking of USS Maine, 15 February 1898

Related Resource: The Destruction of USS Maine

USS Maine, a second-class battleship built between 1888 and 1895, was sent to Havana in January 1898 to protect American interests during the long-standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. In the evening of 15 February 1898, Maine sank when her forward gunpowder magazines exploded. Nearly three-quarters of the battleship's crew died as a result of the explosion. While the cause of this great tragedy is still unsettled, contemporary American popular opinion blamed Spain, and war followed within a few months. Maine's wreck was raised in 1912 to clear the harbor and to facilitate an investigation into the cause of her sinking. Her remains were subsequently scuttled in deep waters north of Havana.

These pictures feature the Maine, her commanding officer and crewmen, and other views related to her loss.

If better quality reproductions than these digital images are desired, see How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.

In all cases, clicking on the small photograph will prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 46767

USS Maine (1895-1898)


Launching, at the New York Navy Yard, 18 November 1889. Engraving copied from Scientific American magazine, Vol. 45, 1898.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (88,884 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 60255-A

USS Maine (1895-1898)


Photographed circa 1895-98.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (56,000 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 48621

USS Maine (1895-1898)


Port quarter view, taken in Bar Harbor, Maine, 1895.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (76,024 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 48622

USS Maine (1895-1898)


View looking forward on deck, port side, taken while the ship was visiting Bar Harbor, Maine, 1895.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (111,144 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 95096

Captain Charles D. Sigsbee, U.S. Navy, commanding officer of USS Maine when she was lost.


Photograph published in Bohemia, 1904, by the International League of Press Clubs, opposite page 26.

Courtesy of Larry Franklin, 1983.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (72,109 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 46729

USS Maine (1895-1898)


"Evening Amusements": crewmembers playing cards and reading in their berthing spaces, circa 1895-1898. Halftone photograph, copied from the contemporary publication Uncle Sam's Navy, 1898.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (78,128 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 48619

USS Maine (1895-1898)


Passing Morro Castle as she entered Havana harbor, Cuba, on 25 January 1898. She was destroyed by explosion there some three weeks later. Halftone original image.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (62,752 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 61236

USS Maine (1895-1898)


Is destroyed by explosion, in Havana Harbor, Cuba, 15 February 1898. Artwork, copied from the contemporary publication, Uncle Sam's Navy.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (66,313 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 46774

USS Maine (1895-1898)


U.S. Navy diving crew at work on the ship's wreck, in 1898, seen from aft looking forward.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (69,531 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 46765

Loss of USS Maine, 15 February 1898.


Funeral procession for crewmen killed when the ship exploded, in the streets of Havana, Cuba, shortly after the disaster. Retouched halftone photograph, copied from Uncle Sam's Navy, Volume IV, Number 3, 19 April 1898.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (75,964 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 48273

Fitzhugh Lee


United States Consul General in Havana, Cuba, when the USS Maine was lost. Halftone photograph taken in 1894, copied from Uncle Sam's Navy, Volume IV, Number 3, 19 April 1898.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (59,287 bytes)

 
Photo #: NH 46764

USS Maine Court of Inquiry, 1898
.

Members of the Navy Court of Inquiry examining Ensign Wilfrid V. Powelson, on board the U.S. Light House Tender Mangrove, in Havana Harbor, Cuba, circa March 1898. Those seated around the table include (from left to right): Captain French E. Chadwick, Captain William T. Sampson, Lieutenant Commander William P. Potter, Ensign W.V. Powelson, Lieutenant Commander Adolph Marix. Photograph copied from Uncle Sam's Navy, 12 April 1898.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (77,296 bytes)
 

 
Photo #: NH 61674

USS Maine (1895-1898)


Retouched image of a photograph by A. Loeffler, with an inset portrait of her last commanding officer, Captain Charles D. Sigsbee, USN. This print was published as a memento following the ship's loss.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. (89,259 bytes)

 

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28 February 1998