Event Detail

A panel of historians and archivists will discuss the sinking of the USS Maine, a second-class battleship built between 1888 and 1895, which was sent to Havana in January 1898 to protect American interests during the long-standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. On the evening of February 15 1898, the Maine sank when her forward gunpowder magazines exploded. Nearly three-quarters of the battleship’s crew died as a result of the explosion. While the cause of this great tragedy is still unsettled, contemporary American popular opinion blamed Spain, and the Spanish-American War followed within a few months.

This program is presented in collaboration with Arlington National Cemetery and the Naval History and Heritage Command, and is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation.