USS Maine's Ventilation Cowl

 

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.

USS Maine.  Note the ventilation cowl to the right of the forward funnel.

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!).

Hunting the USS Maine in Bangor Maine

  In Davenport Park in down town Bangor Maine is my latest find in hunting for the USS Maine.  It is the bow scroll from the ship.  Or as one person on trip advisor called it "Battleship bling.". It has been restored and painted and now is mounted on a granite replica of the ship's bow.  The scroll was recovered from the battleship when it was raised in Havana harbour after the Spanish American war.

Monumento a las víctimas del Maine

   Last year while in Key West Florida I reported on my hunting for The USS Maine.  Today here I am in Havana Cuba, visiting the actual site of the disaster and the monument to the Maine itself.  Built in 1925 and called The Monument to the Victims of the USS Maine it honors the American sailors who died in the explosion in 1898.  The monument is on the Malecón Boulevard.  The ship had anchored at Havana at the request of American consul Fitzhugh Lee. The explosion and deaths of over half its crew was the pretext for the United States declaring war on Spain.  Based on photographs from the period, I think our cruise ship dock is near to where the ship sank and the wreckage stayed for years before being salvaged.

  On the monument are the two 10" cannon barrels from the ship's main gun turret.  Heavily rusted, they were recovered from the wreck of the ship.  They are painted black and attached to the base of the monument.

One of the ten inch cannons.

  The monument itself was originally crowned with an American eagle, but its wings extended in such a way that a hurricane damaged it.  This is now in the U.S. Embassy building in Havana.  The eagle was  replaced in 1926 by a new one with horizontal wings.  The newer eagle was pulled downed in 1960 because it was considered a symbol of American imperialism.  The eagle's head was recovered by Swiss diplomats.  It too is now in the Embassy of the United States in Havana.  The body and the wings are stored in the Havana City History Museum.  The museum's curator believes that good relations with the U.S. will be symbolized by the reunification of the parts of the eagle.  I hope to see this happen in my lifetime.

Enjoying a cigar in front of the monument.

Photos by Mark and Janine.   
Thank you to Janine for help in editing this article.

USS Olympia

  While in Philadelphia we went to visit the USS Olympia.  This cruiser from the Spanish American war served as Admiral Dewey's  flagship at Manila Bay.

Because it was off season there were no interpretation on the ship and everything was self guided.  Much of the ship is not available to walk through . Just the main deck inside and a little top side.  But what is open is well maintained and interesting.  Best of all how often do you get a chance to walk the deck of a ship of this time period.  Very inspiring and highly recommend.

Looking forward towards the 8" gun turret

 Looking aft

5" gun

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Looking down into the engine room

Must be good to be an officer!

Only one tiny little ship....

The USS Maine

Sometimes we start projects because they are important to us.  But too often we start projects because ..... Here is a rediscovery of a project from right years ago.

This was one of my weaker moments.  As readers of this blog know I have a long held interest in the ill fated U.S.S. Maine.  So years ago when I found the 1:1000 scale models of the Spanish American war period ships by Richard Houston I was besides myself.  I just need one ship, that's all just one ship.  With similar words we start down the path of madness.....

 Well I went and ordered the Maine. It was a great model and fun to assemble and paint.  But it looked so alone all by itself. Then I found out Richard Houston had retired and was no longer selling the ships.

 So when I found on eBay someone who was selling a big bunch of them I jumped at the chance.  I spent like a drunken sailor and bought bunches of Spanish and American ships.  Soon I had painted fleets which to do battle with.  But then, I found out about naval rules.  Very complicated, lots of numbers and calculations. Many die rolls for each gun to see if you ranged in, hit the target and then if you caused any damage.  What was worse, the battles between my fleets were so lopsided.  The Spanish ships were, how should I say less then second class compared to the new state of the art American ships.  So off they went into a box to disappear for the next eight years.

Since that time I had forgotten about the ships.  Recently, in cleaning up I found them (along with a number of other forgotten projects).  They do look nice, and perhaps there is a simple fun set of rules out there.....

To be continued......

Hunting the USS Maine in Key West

I have always been fascinated by the story of the destruction of the USS Maine.  Sent to Havana harbour ostensibly to protect  American civilians, the Maine was destroyed by a mysterious explosion on the night of February 15, 1898.  After three major investigations the cause of the initial exploration is still not known.

   In 1911 the wreckage of the Maine was raised.  A coffer dam was built around it, water pumped out and salvage started.  The destroyed bow was cut off, wreckage removed and the ship floated.

   The ship itself was towed out to sea and scuttled.  The wreckage was broken up and towns across the country received parts as monuments to "Remember the Maine."  Some monuments are large like the bow scroll in Bangor Maine, the main mast in Arlington National cemetery and the other mast at Annapolis.  some small like the ventilator cowel in the  traffic circle in Woburn Massachusetts.

   While in Key West I ran into several monuments of the Maine. This was not unexpected as The Maine sailed from the naval station there to Havana.

   Janine jokes that wherever we go I find weird pieces of the Maine.  But here in Key West it was hard not to stumble over the memory of the ship.

   In Mallory square I ran into one of the many salvaged parts from the Maine.  Here is the sighting  dome from the forward turret.  And on a display model of the ship where that dome was located.

In the Custome House museum we discovered a number of artifacts.  These included the naval jack, life rings, utensils from the officers mess.  On a exhibit text it mentioned the ships crew retired that night after a butler played taps.  Forty minutes later the  ship was rocked by two explosions which killed most of the crew.  Afterwards reading this I noticed in a case a bugle recovered from the wreckage.

The Custome House also served as office for the first inquiry into what happened.  They deduced, after interviewing the survivors and talking to divers who examined the

wreak a mine had set off  the first explosion which then set off the forward magazine.  A second inquiry after the ship was raised and re examined confirmed those findings.

  Although some individuals questioned the mine theory it was not seriously explored until 1974 when Admiral Rickover (the father of the nuclear submarine fleet) had his staff reexamine the case.  His staff felt a coal fire was more likely to have caused the magazine

USS Maine being towed out to sea to be scuttled

explosion.  While many excepted his findings, others felt there was little substantial facts to back it up.   While there are problems with each theory I felt the coal fire the least possible.  For a debunking of it here is a good read.  http://www.spanamwar.com/mainecoal.html

   The pier the Maine sailed from is no longer in existence.  So Janine suggested we walk to the town cemetery to visit the graves of the Sailors and Marines from the Maine and pay our respects.

Most of the crew are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  But a few were buried in Key West right after the sinking.   The area today is quiet and peaceful.  A monument of a sailor marks the area which

contains about a dozen graves all marked unknown.  I think it was a fitting end to our hunt for the USS Maine in Key West.

Is there a part of the USS Maine in your town?  Here is a handy dandy list of where you can items,
http://www.spanamwar.com/mainparts.htm