[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 10 (Wednesday, February 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          REMEMBER THE MAINE!

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETER DEUTSCH

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 11, 1998

  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 100th 
anniversary of a tragic and intriguing chapter in American History. 
This Sunday, February 15th, marks the Centennial Anniversary of the 
sinking of the U.S.S. Battleship Maine in Havana harbor, Cuba. This 
still unsolved mystery surrounding the sinking of the Maine and the 
role her explosion played in the start of the Spanish-American War have 
given her a most prominent position in American history.
  On January 24, 1898, the U.S.S. Battleship Maine was dispatched from 
Key West to Havana to protect American lives and property during the 
conflict between Cuban revolutionaries and the Spanish Colonial 
Government. A letter home from Captain Charles Sigsbee recalls that 
fateful night of February 15, 1898, when the evening's calm was 
shattered by a ``bursting, rending, crashing sound or roar of immense 
volume.'' At 9:40 p.m. the explosion lifted the forward section of the 
Maine followed immediately by a second, large and more violent 
explosion near the center of the superstructure. The entire interior of 
the vessel went dark as men struggled throughout the wounded ship to 
find a way out of the sinking and burning hull. The explosions emanated 
primarily from the forward section of the Maine where the crew was 
bunking and housed. 265 sailors were dead or missing following the 
disaster.
  After an investigation by the U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry, it was 
determined that a mine had set off the explosions. While the court did 
not speculate on who had set the mine, a majority of Americans blamed 
it on the Spanish. The cry, ``Remember the Maine!'' echoed in the 
streets of the nation and the halls of Congress. Two days after the 
report of the court of inquiry, Navy Secretary John Davis Long ordered 
the peacetime white hulls of U.S. ships overpainted in dull battle 
gray.
  The U.S. flag still flies from the salvaged mast of the Maine at 
Arlington National Cemetery over the graves of the sailors and Marines 
whose bodies were recovered in 1911. The remains of the first 27 
members of the crew returned to the U.S. also rest at the Maine 
Memorial Plot in Key West, Florida.
  The U.S.S. Battleship Maine and the people of Key West share an 
inexorable history. During her brief period of service the Maine would 
visit Key West on two memorable occasions. The destruction of the Maine 
and the tremendous loss of life shocked and deeply saddened the people 
of Key West. The entire community would mourn the dead sailors and 
offer aide and comfort to survivors of the explosion. Shortly 
thereafter, the city would offer a portion of its cemetery as a final 
resting place for the 27 dead sailors that arrived from Havana.
  This weekend America will join the U.S. Battleship Maine Centennial 
Commission in Key West to once again remember the Maine on the 100th 
anniversary of its destruction. As it was a century ago, the history of 
our nation, the island of Key West and the battleship Maine are bound 
together for all time.

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