2-634-715 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'USS Maine', 1911. The USS 'Maine', a pre-dreadnought battleship, exploded and sank in Havana harbour, Cuba, on 15 February 1898, with the loss of 274 of her crew. The ship had been deployed to Cuba to protect American interests during a popular uprising against Spanish colonial rule on the island. Popular opinion in the United States was outraged by the sinking, which was blamed on a Spanish mine. A cofferdam was built around the wreck and water was pumped out, exposing the wreck by late 1911 to allow a second court of inquiry to inspect the damage and ascertain a cause for the sinking.The intact portion of the hull of the Maine was eventually refloated and ceremoniously scuttled at sea on 16 March 1912.