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Photo is public domain

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The ship was docked at Havana harbor

("February 16 1898")

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At 9:40pm on February 15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana harbor ("February 16 1898").

After the Maine exploded the press instantly put in the headlines that the Spanish was responsible for blowing the ship up ("February 16 1898").

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William Randolph Hearst and his New York Journal offered a $50,000 award for the detection of the Perpetrator of the Maine Outrage ("February 16 1898").

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An Official U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry ruled in March that the ship was blown up by a mine ("The Maine").

“Subsequent diplomatic failures to resolve the Maine matter, coupled with United States indignation over Spain’s brutal suppression of the Cuban rebellion and continued losses to American investment, led to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in April 1898” ("The Maine").

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Charles D. Sigsbee, career naval officer, was born in Albany, New York on January 16, 1845.  Upon graduating from the Naval Academy in 1863 he began a career which would be remembered, primarily, for his service as the last Captain of the U.S.S. Maine in 1898 (Gallen). Photo is public domain

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The explosion killed 260 out of the 400 onboard ("The Maine").

The U.S.S. Maine weighed more than 6,000 tons and was built for the cost of more than $2 million ("The Maine").

The explosion just further pushed us to have war with the Spanish ("February 16 1898").

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(“The Story”)

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Works Cited

“February 16 1898: Battleship U.S.S. Maine Explodes.” Timeline, Great Projects Film Company, www.pbs.org/crucible/tl10.html?scrlybrkr=60591b3e#. Accessed 13 Mar. 2018.

Gallen, James M. “Charles Dwight Sigsbee.” The Spanish American War Cetennial Website, www.spanamwar.com/sigsbee.htm. Accessed 14 Mar. 2018.

“The Maine Explodes.” History, A&E television Networks, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-maine-explodes. Accessed 13 Mar. 2018.

“The Story of the USS Maine.” YouTube, uploaded by MrRohanGw, 13 Nov. 2012, youtu.be/3JYFJU3ZJLM.

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In 1976, a team of American naval investigators concluded that the Maine explosion was likely caused by a fire that ignited its ammunition stocks, not by a Spanish mine or act of sabotage ("February 16 1898").

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Photo is public domain