Congress to Act: Will Assume a Vigorous Attitude Towards Spain
April 2, 1898
Summary
The United States Naval Court of Inquiry finds no reason for the battleship Maine to have combusted of its own accord, leaving a torpedo attack from Spain as the only answer.
Transcription
The president is waiting for a reply to his demands on Spain’s government.
Warfare in Cuba must cease.
Unless it does the President will lay the whole matter before Congress and be guided by its instructions. The government secures a torpedo boat built for the German government and a number of yachts and tugs which will be transformed into marine fighters—Admiral Sicard retired, and Captain Sampson succeeds him in the command of the fleet at Key West—Commodore Schley commands the flying squadron at Hampton Roads—the report of the Court of Inquiry into the disaster to the Battleship Maine, in the Harbor of Havana, and the President’s message to congress on the subject.
Washington, March 28.—Following is the full text of the report of the court of inquiry appointed to investigate the disaster to the Maine at Havana:
United States Steamer Iowa, First Rate, Key West, Fla., Monday, March 21, 1898.
After full and mature consideration of all the testimony before it, the court finds as follows:
1. That the United States battleship Maine arrived in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, on the 25th day of January 1898, and was taken to buoy No. 4, in from five to six fathoms of water, by the regular government pilot.
2. The state of discipline on board the Maine was excellent, and all orders and regulations in regard to the care and safety of the ship were strictly carried out.
All ammunition was stowed in accordance with prescribed instructions, and proper care was taken whenever ammunition was handled.
Nothing was stowed in any one of the magazines or shell rooms were always locked after having been opened, and after the destruction of the Maine the keys were found in their proper place in the captain’s cabin, everything having been reported secure that evening at 8 p.m. The temperatures of the magazine and shell room were taken daily and reported. The only magazine which had an undue amount of heat was the after ten-inch magazine, and that did not explode at the time the Maine was destroyed.
The torpedo warheads were all stowed in the after part of the ship under the ward room, and neither cause nor participated in the destruction of the Maine.
The dry gun cotton primers and detonators were stowed in the cabin aft, and remote from the scene of the explosion.
Waste was carefully looked after on board the Maine to obviate danger. Special orders in regard to this had been given by the commanding officer.
Varnishes, dryers, alcohol and other combustibles of this nature were stowed on or above the main deck and could not have had anything to do with the destruction of the Maine.
The medical stores were stowed aft under the ward room and remote from the scene of the explosion.
No dangerous stores of any kind were stowed below in any of the other store rooms.
The coal bunkers were inspected daily. Of those bunkers, adjacent to the forward magazines and shell rooms were empty, namely, B3, B4, B5, B6.
A5 had been in use all day, and A16 was full of the new river coal. This coal had been carefully inspected before receiving it on board. The bunker in which it was stowed was accessible on three sides at all times, and the fourth side at this time on account of bunkers B4 and B6 being empty. This bunker, A16, had been inspected Monday by the engineer officer on duty.
The fire alarms in the bunkers were in working order, and there had never been a case of spontaneous combustion of coal on board the Maine.
The two after boilers of the ship were in use at the time of the disaster, but for auxiliary purposes only, with a comparatively low pressure of steam and being tended by a reliable watch. These boilers could not have caused the explosion of the ship. The four forward boilers have since been found by the divers and are in a fair condition.
On the night of the destruction of the Maine everything had been reported secure for the night at 8 p.m. by reliable persons, through the proper authorities to the commanding officer. At the time, the Maine was destroyed the ship was quiet and therefore least liable to accident caused by movements from those on board.
3. The destruction of the Maine occurred at 9:40 p.m. on the 15th day of February 1898, in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, she being at the time moored to the same buoy to which she had been taken upon her arrival.
There were two explosions of a distinctly different character, with a very short but distinct interval between them, and the forward part of the ship was lifted to a marked degree at the time of the first explosion.
The first explosion was more in the nature of a report, like that of a gun, while the second explosion was more open, prolonged, and of greater volume. This second explosion was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or more the forward magazines of the Maine.
4. The evidence bearing upon this, being principally obtained from divers, did not enable the court to form a definite conclusion as to the condition of the wreck, although it was established that the after part of the ship was practically intact and sank in the condition a very few minutes after the destruction of the forward part.
The following facts in regard to the forward part of the ship are, however, established by testimony.
That portion of the port side of the protective deck which extends from about frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown up aft, and over to port. The main deck from about frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown up aft, and slightly over to starboard, folding the forward part of the middle superstructure over and on top of the after part.
This was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or more of the forward magazines of the Maine.
5. At frame 17 the outer shell of the ship from a point eleven and one-half feet from the middle line of the ship and six feet about the keel when in its normal position has been forced up so as to be now about four feet above the surface of the water; therefore, about 34 feet above where it would be had the ship sank uninjured. The outside bottom plating is bent into a reversed V shape, the after wing of which about 15 feet broad and 32 feet in length) from frame 17 to frame 25), is doubled back upon itself against the continuation of the same plating extending forward.
At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two, and the flat keel bent into an angle similar to the angle formed by the outside bottom plating. This break is now about six feet below the surface of the water, and about 30 feet above its normal position.
In the opinion of the court this effect could have been produced only by the explosion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship at about frame 18, and somewhat on the port side of the ship.
6. The court finds that the loss of the Maine, on the occasion named, was not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or members of the crew of said vessel.
7. In the opinion of the court the Maine was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two of her forward magazines.
8. The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the Maine upon any person or persons.
The report is signed by Captain W. T. Sampson, president of the court of inquiry, and Lieutenant Commander Marix, judge advocate, and approved by Admiral Sicard.
Warfare in Cuba must cease.
Unless it does the President will lay the whole matter before Congress and be guided by its instructions. The government secures a torpedo boat built for the German government and a number of yachts and tugs which will be transformed into marine fighters—Admiral Sicard retired, and Captain Sampson succeeds him in the command of the fleet at Key West—Commodore Schley commands the flying squadron at Hampton Roads—the report of the Court of Inquiry into the disaster to the Battleship Maine, in the Harbor of Havana, and the President’s message to congress on the subject.
Washington, March 28.—Following is the full text of the report of the court of inquiry appointed to investigate the disaster to the Maine at Havana:
United States Steamer Iowa, First Rate, Key West, Fla., Monday, March 21, 1898.
After full and mature consideration of all the testimony before it, the court finds as follows:
1. That the United States battleship Maine arrived in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, on the 25th day of January 1898, and was taken to buoy No. 4, in from five to six fathoms of water, by the regular government pilot.
2. The state of discipline on board the Maine was excellent, and all orders and regulations in regard to the care and safety of the ship were strictly carried out.
All ammunition was stowed in accordance with prescribed instructions, and proper care was taken whenever ammunition was handled.
Nothing was stowed in any one of the magazines or shell rooms were always locked after having been opened, and after the destruction of the Maine the keys were found in their proper place in the captain’s cabin, everything having been reported secure that evening at 8 p.m. The temperatures of the magazine and shell room were taken daily and reported. The only magazine which had an undue amount of heat was the after ten-inch magazine, and that did not explode at the time the Maine was destroyed.
The torpedo warheads were all stowed in the after part of the ship under the ward room, and neither cause nor participated in the destruction of the Maine.
The dry gun cotton primers and detonators were stowed in the cabin aft, and remote from the scene of the explosion.
Waste was carefully looked after on board the Maine to obviate danger. Special orders in regard to this had been given by the commanding officer.
Varnishes, dryers, alcohol and other combustibles of this nature were stowed on or above the main deck and could not have had anything to do with the destruction of the Maine.
The medical stores were stowed aft under the ward room and remote from the scene of the explosion.
No dangerous stores of any kind were stowed below in any of the other store rooms.
The coal bunkers were inspected daily. Of those bunkers, adjacent to the forward magazines and shell rooms were empty, namely, B3, B4, B5, B6.
A5 had been in use all day, and A16 was full of the new river coal. This coal had been carefully inspected before receiving it on board. The bunker in which it was stowed was accessible on three sides at all times, and the fourth side at this time on account of bunkers B4 and B6 being empty. This bunker, A16, had been inspected Monday by the engineer officer on duty.
The fire alarms in the bunkers were in working order, and there had never been a case of spontaneous combustion of coal on board the Maine.
The two after boilers of the ship were in use at the time of the disaster, but for auxiliary purposes only, with a comparatively low pressure of steam and being tended by a reliable watch. These boilers could not have caused the explosion of the ship. The four forward boilers have since been found by the divers and are in a fair condition.
On the night of the destruction of the Maine everything had been reported secure for the night at 8 p.m. by reliable persons, through the proper authorities to the commanding officer. At the time, the Maine was destroyed the ship was quiet and therefore least liable to accident caused by movements from those on board.
3. The destruction of the Maine occurred at 9:40 p.m. on the 15th day of February 1898, in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, she being at the time moored to the same buoy to which she had been taken upon her arrival.
There were two explosions of a distinctly different character, with a very short but distinct interval between them, and the forward part of the ship was lifted to a marked degree at the time of the first explosion.
The first explosion was more in the nature of a report, like that of a gun, while the second explosion was more open, prolonged, and of greater volume. This second explosion was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or more the forward magazines of the Maine.
4. The evidence bearing upon this, being principally obtained from divers, did not enable the court to form a definite conclusion as to the condition of the wreck, although it was established that the after part of the ship was practically intact and sank in the condition a very few minutes after the destruction of the forward part.
The following facts in regard to the forward part of the ship are, however, established by testimony.
That portion of the port side of the protective deck which extends from about frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown up aft, and over to port. The main deck from about frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown up aft, and slightly over to starboard, folding the forward part of the middle superstructure over and on top of the after part.
This was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or more of the forward magazines of the Maine.
5. At frame 17 the outer shell of the ship from a point eleven and one-half feet from the middle line of the ship and six feet about the keel when in its normal position has been forced up so as to be now about four feet above the surface of the water; therefore, about 34 feet above where it would be had the ship sank uninjured. The outside bottom plating is bent into a reversed V shape, the after wing of which about 15 feet broad and 32 feet in length) from frame 17 to frame 25), is doubled back upon itself against the continuation of the same plating extending forward.
At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two, and the flat keel bent into an angle similar to the angle formed by the outside bottom plating. This break is now about six feet below the surface of the water, and about 30 feet above its normal position.
In the opinion of the court this effect could have been produced only by the explosion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship at about frame 18, and somewhat on the port side of the ship.
6. The court finds that the loss of the Maine, on the occasion named, was not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or members of the crew of said vessel.
7. In the opinion of the court the Maine was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two of her forward magazines.
8. The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the Maine upon any person or persons.
The report is signed by Captain W. T. Sampson, president of the court of inquiry, and Lieutenant Commander Marix, judge advocate, and approved by Admiral Sicard.
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Cali Hughes
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“Congress to Act: Will Assume a Vigorous Attitude Towards Spain,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 19, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1359.