Remember the Maine!

[napoleon526]

On February 15, 1898, the battleship USS Maine suffered an explosion and sank in Havana harbor. An official board of inquiry determined that the explosion was the result of a mine, although it could not determine who or whom had placed it. Nevertheless, the American press insisted that mine was placed by Spanish agents, and the public screamed for war. Within a few weeks the US was at war with Spain.

Although the cause has never been definitively established, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that an accidental fire in the Maine's coal bunker could have spread to the ship's forward magazine, causing the explosion that sunk the ship. Another possibility is that the sinking was caused by a mine, but one placed by Cuban rebels, hoping to draw the US into their war of independence from Spain.

So, which explanation seems the most likely?

 

[pawpaw]

the president needed an excuse to invade cuba, most americans were in favor. empire by default by heny holt is a good book on the cause of the spanish american war. the american report on the wreck show the explosion was outward- an internal explosion , not a mine.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

The Spanish-American War was not started by the Spanish, but it is too late at night for me to go into the reasons I think that. Tomorrow I will.


Remember the USS Liberty would be a FAR better thread topic, where Israel butchered over 30 American sailors in an act that must have had ulterior motives...either framing Egypt or to prevent interception of their radio transmissions.

 

[napoleon526]

Originally posted by kittenOFchaos
Remember the USS Liberty would be a FAR better thread topic, where Israel butchered over 30 American sailors in an act that must have had ulterior motives...either framing Egypt or to prevent interception of their radio transmissions.

Whoa, never heard of this. Could you explain?

 

[dannyevilcat]

Originally posted by napoleon526

Whoa, never heard of this. Could you explain?

Never heard of it until last night, but here's a couple of links to check out.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/gidusko/liberty/

http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0693/9306019.htm

 

[yaroslav]

We didn't do it

Now seriously, as other have told you, I think that Spain was not stupid to attack USA...

 

[napoleon526]

Originally posted by dannyevilcat
Never heard of it until last night, but here's a couple of links to check out.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/gidusko/liberty/

http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0693/9306019.htm

Interesting coincidence, this happened 36 years ago today.

Both links have good information, however the first has a clear anti-Israel bias. I stopped reading when they reported that "Israel controls the US congress." The second one is more objective but has much of the same info. This coverup is sickening. It's time for the truth about this incident to be revealed.

 

[Benderino]

Yeah, it was definetly the coal explosion. Modern historians have found evidence proving that to be the truth. Although it would be cool if it had been "Spanish mines from a Spanish submarine", as the newspapers of the time propagated, I don't believe that to be the case.

 

[John-LP]

The anchor of the U.S.S Maine sits in City Park area of Reading, PA, my home town.

 

[trumpeteer]

I would have to believe it was just a coal explosion. Propaganda at that time was atrocious and blamed the Spanish much as American WWII propaganda portrayed the Japanese as "savage beasts." The evidence suggests that the explosion that sunk the Maine was internal.