Readers of this blog know I have an usual hobby of looking for artifacts from the USS Maine. That battleship mysteriously blew up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, in 1898, giving Americathe excuse it needed to launch the Spanish-American War. Which America won in a month. I have found parts of the Maine in Key West Florida, Bangor Maine and of course Havana Cuba. But today I found another item that was nearer to home.
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| USS Maine. Note the ventilation cowl to the right of the forward funnel. |
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| The crushed cowel as it looks today. |
The Maine sank in less than 40 feet of water, which made salvage possible. America's small towns, flush with patriotic fervor, demanded relics of the ship. Some did better than others. The captain's bathtub can be seen in Findlay, Ohio! Other items are scattered nationwide. The bow scroll is in Bangor Maine, the main mast is at Arlington Cemetary and the fore mast is at Annapolis Maryland. Three ventilator cowls -- those items which stick out of ship decks that people are always falling into or peeping out of in movies -- were dredged up. One was given to the town of Woburn, Massachusetts. It is displayed today in a covered memorial in the center of the town. More accurately it is within a traffics circle. So to see it you have to drive around and round, or just find a parking space somewhere (easier said then done!).
It must be quite a while since you posted about the USS Maine Mark, as I have been reading your blog for a couple of years and did not realise you had this unusual hobby! What is your theory on the mysterious explosion - did the US Govt sabotage their own ship, just to have an excuse to attack Spanish Cuba??
ReplyDeleteIts been awhile since I last posted on it but I am always on the lookout.
ReplyDeleteAs to the sinking, I feel it was an external explosion outside the ship. This is based on examinations of the ship itself.
Here is, in my opinion only the best reading on what happened.
"
Analysis of Theories on How the U.S.S. Maine Was Lost
or
Why Did the Battleship Maine Sink?
By Patrick McSherry"
https://www.spanamwar.com/mainetheories.html
Very interesting Mark.
ReplyDelete