File:Wreckofthemaine.jpg

wreck of the USS Maine - low tide - Havana Harbor Cuba - 1911 Wreck of the USS Maine at low tide in Havana Harbor in 1911. The twisted wreckage to the left is what is left of the center of the ship. The collapsed second funnel is in the middle. The mast of the Maine is nearly upright. To the far right are lifeboat davits. During low tied, the upper portion of the wreck was clearly revealed. At high tide, only the twisted metal on the far left and the mast could be seen.

This image was taken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in October 1911, and published by the Special Board of Engineer Officers in the "Final Report of Removing Wreck of Battleship 'Maine' From Harbor of Habana, Cuba" in 1914.

The USS Maine was the first battleship ever built by the United States. Obsolete as soon as she launched, she patrolled the North Atlantic for 18 months before being sent to Havana, Cuba, to help calm anti-independence riots there (fomented by Spanish military officers). Her first night in the harbor, she blew up -- and 260 of her 355 crew died, nearly all of them sailors (not officers). Only a third of the ship remained.

The "yellow press" in the U.S. claimed a Spanish mine sank her, and this caused the Spanish-American War. The war lasted 10 weeks, and Spain lost Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the U.S.

The Maine stayed where she was until 1911-1912, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers raised the latter third of the ship. It was towed three miles out to sea and sunk in 1,200 feet of water. The remaining two-thirds of the ship was just scrap. Some relics (like dishes, swords, bayonets, the ship's bell, etc.) were taken back to the U.S. Some scrap was melted down into commemorative plaques, medals, or insignia. But most of the scrap was taken out to sea and dumped.

In 1899, the 160 Maine sailors buried in Colón Cemetery were disinterred and reburied at Arlington National Cemetery. Two U.S. howitzers and an anchor from another ship were placed there as a memorial. About 60 more dead were found about the Maine when it was raised. These remains were returned to the U.S. in December 1912, and buried at Arlington as well. The memorial mausoleum was created at Arlington near the Maine burial field, and the mast of the USS Maine was set into it. Today, it's known as the USS Maine Mast Memorial.