A terrible explosion rocked Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. The American pre-dreadnought battleship, U.S.S. Maine, which arrived on January 25 to protect Americans during Cuba's revolt against their Spanish leaders, was destoyed killing 260 crewmen. After a four-week investigation, a naval panel concluded a mine was the most probable cause but did not directly point the blame at Spain. Most Americans however thought Spain was indeed responsible.
U.S.S. Maine from U.S. Navy site
Even before U.S.S. Maine was destroyed, American "yellow" journalists as well as Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt (who was anxious to test the modernized American Navy in a war) instantly assumed Spain was responsible as did the general public. President McKinley reluctantly prepared for war as did Spain when diplomatic efforts failed. The result was The Spanish-American War, an unnecessary conflict that propelled America to the ranks of a world power.
Spain's power was already in decline. Many American war hawks wanted to further expand America's influence and saw this as an opportunity beyond the West Coast. The U.S. Navy would be the instrument for America's new colonial enterprise. By the war's end, Cuba and the Philippines were in American hands, paving the way to occupy other islands in the Pacific. This began a chain of events that would lead to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
The 1898 investigation panel lacked the proper technology to assess the exact reason for the Maine's destruction. Some questioned the findings that a mine detonated the ship's magazine. In 1976, a new investigation was conducted. New evidence found the damage was inconsistent with a mine explosion; the most probable cause was that the ship's boiler combusted. A 1998 investigation disputed this finding but also did not fully prove a mine was involved.
