Spanish American War, 1898 - History, Spanish American War, 1898, Spain - History - 1814 - 1931 (Bourbon Restorations & First Republic), United States - Naval History, Ships - Military Vessels, United States Navy, Cuba - History, Colonialism & Imperialism
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Overview
On February 15, 1898, the Secretary of the Navy received an anguished telegram from Captain Charles Sigsbee: "Maine blown up in Havana harbor at nine forty tonight and destroyed." Two hundred sixty-seven American officers and enlisted men were killed in an explosion that was the immediate cause of the Spanish-American War and ended the short career of the first U.S. battleship built domestically with materials manufactured in the United States. At first ascribed to a Spanish mine, the Maine disaster has been scrutinized and challenged over the years, most notably in 1974 when Admiral Hyman G. Rickover employed naval engineers to demonstrate that the explosion was caused by spontaneous combustion in the ship's coal bunkers, adjacent to the gunpowder magazines. In Remembering the Maine, Peggy and Harold Samuels reveal heretofore secret documents - including an 1898 report suppressed by President McKinley, and unpublished testimony of Cubans, Spaniards and Americans - which question the findings of the Rickover report and show that a mine set by Spanish extremists in Havana destroyed the Maine. This historical whodunit describes in detail the controversial evidence, political impediments, and faulty investigations that have confounded this military mystery for almost one hundred years. With investigative zeal, the authors review contemporary press coverage of the disaster, reveal inadequate scientific understanding (at the time) of spontaneous combustion, and scrutinize the findings of the blue-ribbon Rickover commission. They detail the Maine's architecture, analyze the properties of explosives carried on the ship, explain the political tensions between Spain and the United States, and bring to light the liaisons between Cuban rebels and newspaper magnates Hearst and Pulitzer. Among other pieces of evidence, the Samuels uncover an overlooked account by a man who manufactured mines for a group of Spanish extremists, witnessed the explosion, accused his employers oThe authors reveal secret documents--including a report suppressed by President McKinley and unpublished testimony--which question the findings of the Rickover report and show that a mine set by Spanish extremists in Havana destroyed the Maine. This historical "whodunit" brings to light controversial findings that have confounded this military mystery for 100 years.
Editorials
Library Journal
One hundred years ago, Congress commissioned a remarkable warship, designed and built in America, a potent symbol of pride to a nation attaining its majority as a force in world affairs. In a clumsy and potentially disastrous diplomatic move, President McKinley ordered the Maine to the hostile Spanish colony of Cuba. After three idyllic weeks at anchor in Havana Harbor, the ship mysteriously exploded, with a devastating loss of life. When an official U.S. inquiry implicated Spain as the perpetrator of the incident, jingoistic factions in America welcomed an excuse for what the authors call "an unnecessary and immoral war." The Samuelses, coauthors of several books on art history, have examined many previously secret contemporary documents on the Maine disaster and reached a plausible solution to the mystery. Moreover, their reasoned but vividly written narrative explores the colorful personalities behind the diplomacy and makes some telling points about the origins of U.S. gunboat diplomacy in the 20th century.-Jamie S. Hansen, Univ. of South Carolina, ColumbiaBook Details
Published
June 1, 1995
Publisher
Prentice Hall & IBD
Pages
384
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781560984740