Explosion Of The Uss Maine

At a time in this country when technological advances were moving forward at what seemed like an unstoppable rate Americans were given a tragic reminder of how fragile life really is. In an instant hundreds of lives were directly impacted, and history took a drastic change. Who is to blame for this tragedy?

The Maine was a Second Class Battleship and was three hundred and nineteen feet long. It's armament was made up of four ten inch guns, six 6 inch guns, several gatling guns and four fourteen inch surface torpedo tubes. It was designed by the United States Nave Bureau of Construction and was built at the New Your Navy Yard in Brooklyn. This was significant because it was the first battleship built in the United States. The ship cost $735,000 to construct. The ship had armor that was over 11 inches thick in some locations, it was the most heavily armored ship of the time.

The USS Maine was the first ship of it's kind commissioned in the United States. This ship was celebrated greatly when it was completed but it was taken out of service in a terrible way. The USS Maine spent most of her time off the coast of the United states between Virginia and Connecticut. It was On December 15, 1897 that the ship was given orders to head to Cuba. The crew on board had no idea this would be their final voyage.