2-612-067 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Explosion on the USS Maine, 1898, (c1910). Cigar card from the History of Cuba, Geografico Universal, Propaganda de los Cigarros Susini y La Corona , Tabacalera Cubana. The armoured cruiser, USS Maine, is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana Harbour on the evening of 15 February 1898. Sent to protect US interests during the Cuban revolt against Spain, she exploded suddenly without warning and sank quickly, killing nearly three quarters of her crew. Although the cause and responsibility for her sinking remained unclear popular opinion in the US fanned by inflammatory articles printed in the Yellow Press by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, blamed Spain.