Sinking of the USS Maine - Essay Example

Sinking of the USS Maine Introduction More than a hundred years ago, before the world wars, there was the Spanish American war. While the causes of the war were many and complex, the spark which led to the start of the war was the sinking of the USS Maine which was situated in the Havana Harbor to protect American interests in present day Cuba. Like the sinking of the Lusitania, this act also played its part in American history since the war cry for the soldiers who fought from the American side was ‘Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain’. While the sinking of the Maine was not the cause of the war itself, it was certainly a means to motivate those people to war who might not have joined the cause willingly since the ship was a symbol of American national pride. The USS Maine was authorized for construction in 1886 by Congress and was completed in 1889. It was the first ship to be named after the state of Maine and was the pride of the fleet as it was one of the first armored cruisers in the world. Considering that America was just emerging as a power on to the world map, it was a remarkable achievement for a young country to produce such a ship since the nations of the old world had ruled the seas without any hindrance or challenge for hundreds of years. The Ship With a tonnage count of more than 6,000, the Maine was certainly a large ship. For the majority of her career she was used along the east coast of the United States and had made several incursions into the Caribbean region. In 1898, under the orders of President McKinley, the ship was sent from Florida to Havana since there was a lot of news coming from that region regarding local troubles which could have had a negative impact on American interests in Havana. The Maine was able to rest for three weeks in the harbor and provide American presence in a time of trouble. The rest was broken quite rudely at 9:40 PM on February the fifteenth, 1898 when an explosion on the ship caused the five tones of ammunition charges to ignite and rip a hole through the ship. The forward part of the ship laid about the harbor as shrapnel and the rest was quickly sinking into the water. The pride of America could be considered nothing more than wreckage and the sailors who were onboard at the time of the explosion lay dead or dying. More than two hundred and sixty men died at the time of the explosion but the captain and many officers survived since they had quarters at the rear end of the ship. Causes of the Disaster The news of the incident generated much debate in America and a detailed investigation was called for by congress as well as the public. On 28th March, a US Navy Court of Inquiry gave their report on the incident after conducting their investigations in Havana. Accounts from some survivors and eyewitnesses were recorded and the court declared conclusively that it was a sea mine which caused the explosion and the resulting loss of life. For many Americans, this was an act of war and retributive justice against Spain was the only answer for them. The Mine At the time, it was thought that the mine was planted by the Spanish because they wanted to keep America away from Cuba while the Spanish settled their internal problems on their own. With the benefit of hindsight, it can be rationalized that Spain would have little motivation to blow up an American ship since that act would be very likely to trigger an attack from the Americans on Spanish interests. Even though Spain was a major world power in those times, it was on the decline since it was facing problems with its colonies around the world. Even if it were a mine, it could have been there to protect the harbor and might have accidentally drifted to where the main was moored. On the other hand, if the explosion was caused by a mine, the blame for the mine could also be put on Cuban independence seekers since they could readily assume that an attack on an American vessel would bring America to attack Spain. Considering some of the eyewitness accounts of the incident, two distinct explosions were heard which mean that the incident could have taken place due to the mine. There is one problem with the mine theory which is the absence of dead fish in the water after the mine exploded. However, that is answered by the assumption that the harbor water might have been too polluted for marine life or that the tide might have taken out the dead fish by the morning. The Coal Explosion The idea of a conspiracy theory is fanned by the theory that the explosion on the Maine was nothing more than an accident or even an intentional accident that had been created to give reasons for America to attach Spain and start the Spanish American war. An internal explosion in the coal stores on the ship could have caused the ammunition store to blow up and result in the sinking of the ship. It is understood that coal explosions were a common problem on ships during the time and since the Maine was a relatively new design there could have been oversights in the construction and the structure of the ship. This theory is relatively weak since the Maine was a very well maintained ship which had never had a previous incident of coal explosions. While many other ships had experienced coal related accidents, none of them were serious enough to rupture the hull and cause the ship to quickly sink to the bottom of the ocean. The coal storage itself was not near a boiler or other strong heat source that could have raised the temperature of the coal and there was no indication of the coal temperature rising on the alarm systems onboard. In either case, the sinking of the ship provided the American government with a good enough reason to attack Spain and expand its territories in the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. While the investigators and analysts have debated the sinking of the Maine for more than a hundred years, they still have not come up with a conclusive argument on either side which supports one theory or the other and each writer or analyst looks at the problem with their own set of biases or internal ideas which further complicate the matter. I believe that the aftermath of the sinking was and remains far more important than the cause of the loss of the ship. Some people have even gone as far as to say that the American government was behind the sinking of the ship so it could have a plausible reason to attack Spain. This idea is taken further in present circumstances where conspiracy theorists continue to use present examples of terrorism as acts which have resulted due to the carelessness of the American government. The war on Iraq is one such example where finding the weapons of mass destruction was the rallying call for the invasion of a country and even though no weapons or evidence of weapons was found, the invasion continues while the government tries to stabilize Iraq and secure the American oil interests in the region. Perhaps it is nothing more than business, politics and economics on a grand scale, but the people who have lost their lives in Iraq were equally valuable as those who lost their lives on the USS Maine. It does make a person think and wonder if the sinking of the Maine is being repeated in historical terms. Read More