The Suspicious Explosion of USS Maine

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4 ай бұрын

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This video is dedicated to the crew of the USS Maine.
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Maine was a United States Navy ship that sank in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, contributing to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in April. U.S. newspapers, engaging in yellow journalism to boost circulation, claimed that the Spanish were responsible for the ship's destruction. The phrase, "Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!" became a rallying cry for action. Although the Maine explosion was not a direct cause, it served as a catalyst that accelerated the events leading up to the war.
Maine is described as an armored cruiser or second-class battleship, depending on the source. Commissioned in 1895, she was the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after the state of Maine.[a][1][2] Maine and its contemporary the battleship Texas were both represented as an advance in American warship design, reflecting the latest European naval developments. Both ships had two-gun turrets staggered en échelon, and full sailing masts were omitted due to the increased reliability of steam engines.[3] Due to a protracted 9-year construction period, Maine and Texas were obsolete by the time of completion.[3] Far more advanced vessels were either in service or nearing completion that year.
Maine was sent to Havana Harbor to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban War of Independence. She exploded and sank on the evening of 15 February 1898, killing 268 sailors, or three-quarters of her crew. In 1898, a U.S. Navy board of inquiry ruled that the ship had been sunk by an external explosion from a mine. However, some U.S. Navy officers disagreed with the board, suggesting that the ship's magazines had been ignited by a spontaneous fire in a coal bunker. The coal used in Maine was bituminous, which is known for releasing firedamp, a mixture of gases composed primarily of flammable methane that is prone to spontaneous explosions. An investigation by Admiral Hyman Rickover in 1974 agreed with the coal fire hypothesis, penning a 1976 monograph that argued for this conclusion. The cause of her sinking remains a subject of debate.[4]
The ship lay at the bottom of the harbor until 1911, when a cofferdam was built around it.[5] The hull was patched up until the ship was afloat, then she was towed to sea and sunk. Maine now lies on the seabed 3,600 feet (1,100 m) below the surface. The ship's main mast is now a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.
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Пікірлер: 64

@HiddenHistoryYT 4 ай бұрын

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@supersami7748 4 ай бұрын

Everything I’ve read in recent years leans very heavily to a coal bunker issue which was very common for ships off his era. Unfortunately like issues during much of the 20th century (and continues today) the excuse was finally there for the war hawks to finally got to war with Spain.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

@markpaul-ym5wg 3 ай бұрын

TRUTH 💯 Excuses get men killed in the end,and leaves innocent towns and civilians killed and or homeless.Great observation.

@MrKen-wy5dk 4 ай бұрын

Excellent! And not a single obnoxious KZfaq ad. Just like the old days.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@olsurferguy1 4 ай бұрын

What a great opening photo of the Maine passing below the Brooklyn Bridge.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@TRHARTAmericanArtist 4 ай бұрын

Hard to believe that the Maine was refloated, 66 bodies recovered and sunk again 3 miles from Havana harbor. Great video as usual HH.

@aaronjohn6586 4 ай бұрын

So once again a military covers up it's own failing, a country takes advantage of said event and a war erupts.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Greatly appreciate it and I agree!

@markrook6085 4 ай бұрын

After the explosion of the Maine, the battleship USS Oregon was dispatched from the Puget Sound navy yard at Bremerton WA in late March 1898 with orders to join the Atlantic Fleet. While passing through a vicious storm while rounding Cape Horn, a sailor discovered a coal bunker that had started to smolder. Quick action by Oregon’s fire crew saved the ship. Whether or not anyone thought “hey, maybe this is what happened to the Maine” is unknown.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Very interesting! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@trickydicky2908 4 ай бұрын

I hate that the 'Maine' blew up. Subsequent events, all the way to the present day, illustrate the folly of going to war over this tragedy.

@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm 4 ай бұрын

What folly when you add the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico, to your portfolio of "spoils of war"? When you win, people really can't complain about your war-like nature. If you lose, however they will hound you from office forever. Take your choice.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

@orwellboy1958 4 ай бұрын

Another great upload. I hope everyone had a good Easter.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

You too! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

@joshnelson4532 4 ай бұрын

Great tribute.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

@tylermcneill 4 ай бұрын

Great video

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Greatly appreciate it! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

@BigBrotherTheWatcher1984 4 ай бұрын

"Let's blame the Maine on Spain and go to war."

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@matthewcosta780 4 ай бұрын

Another good theory is a boiler explosion. Those were just as common as coal bunker fires. And coal dust is also explosive under the right conditions.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@markpaul-ym5wg 4 ай бұрын

Thank you HIDDEN HISTORY for answering my request.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Of course! As always appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@markpaul-ym5wg 3 ай бұрын

@@HiddenHistoryYT U2 HIDDEN HISTORY.

@sreed8570 3 ай бұрын

The first question that comes to mind is this, were any other mines found or placed in the harbor or did any other ships suffer hitting one? Its hard to believe they placed one mine and one mine only and that the ship had the unlikely bad luck to hit it AND it actually worked as intended, considering the poor state of mine tech at the time.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Unsure on that tbh. Good questions though. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)

@johnfun3394 4 ай бұрын

Terrible tragedies, especially attacks always unite us Americans, it usually makes us stop fighting amongst ourselves, and focus. Wish we could always accomplish that! But we need to stop the warmongering, but we can’t.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@EchoesofWarYT 3 ай бұрын

sad

@MrJeep75 4 ай бұрын

More then likely a cole fire

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@brownwrench 4 ай бұрын

More died from disease than enemy action in the Spanish American war.

@HiddenHistoryYT 3 ай бұрын

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@petestorz172 4 ай бұрын

The context of the USS Maine's presence in Havana and the US' actions in the decades following the Spanish-American War complicate the simplistic "American Imperialism" narrative. Cuba, the Philippines, and other islands were, in 1898 part of the Spanish empire. In the years leading up to the S-A War, Spain was fighting independence movements in both Cuba and the Philippines. The USS Maine was in Havana to represent US citizens' interests while the Spanish were being quite brutal in trying to put down the revolt in Cuba. Whether or not Adm. Samson's investigation was tainted by conflict of interest or by technological limitations of the late 19th Century, I can't guess. My 20th/21st Century opinion is that a coal fire detonation the magazine was the most likely cause of the sinking. But Adm. Samson reported a conclusion that the cause was a mine, and that set in motion the progress to war. After the war the US acquired Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam (that I recall). Within 5 years, Cuba was given independence, a weird move for an imperial power. Sometime in the 1920s (after putting down the revolution the Spanish had been fighting; 25 or 30 years after the S-A War) the process was begun of the Philippines becoming independent in 1946 (another weird move for imperialists), which was done despite WW2. Puerto Rico remains a US Territory, its citizens having voting and other constitutional rights, and could become a state (or possibly independent?), if its citizens so chose. Guam (and the Marianas) remains a US Territory, with similar voting and constitutional rights. Compare all this to how the British or French or Spanish or Dutch or Belgians ruled their colonial territories.

@b1laxson 4 ай бұрын

Would that include the colonization of the Sioux and others? Or the kidnapping of the Hawaii princess?

@petestorz172 4 ай бұрын

Irrelevant to the Spanish-American War, on which I was commenting. However Hawai'i is a US state whose citizens have full voting rights, civil rights, and representation in Congress.

@Benito-lr8mz 4 ай бұрын

What stupidity the most racist country today is U.S blacks shooting for be blacks lol

@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm 4 ай бұрын

@@petestorz172 Admittedly, the US Navy has often considered places where they "parked" their vessels as THEIR domain. Indigenous personnel be damned. We are in charge here. Not an endearing treatment of local peoples anywhere. Not much has changed, sadly, over the years. Tainted water on Oahu and even the Marine Camp Lejeune water fiascos are just typical disdain for anything but the Mission. And, regarding the Mission, we really don't know if we are now better prepared than on 7 December 1946.

@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm 4 ай бұрын

@@b1laxson What Hawaii princess or were you just bluffing. I know a good bit about Hawaii history. Lived there a long time a long time ago.