Today in History—February 15: The Headline That Led America to War

On a pitch-black night in 1898, as the 324-foot American battleship USS Maine lay at anchor in Havana Harbor, Cuba, an explosion burst beneath the enlisted men’s quarters. Most sailors were in their bunks. Casualties were enormous.

The blast shook buildings and knocked out power and telephone lines onshore. Ships rushed to help in the darkness, eerily lit by the flames of the Maine’s burning hull. Onshore, Spanish officers joined efforts to aid the stricken crew. Of the 354 men on board, fewer than 50 escaped injury. (The officers’ quarters, aft of the ship, went largely unscathed.)

News of the disaster reached the U.S., and outrage quickly outpaced evidence.

The Maine had been sent to Cuba in January, a show of American resolve in the face of growing tensions between Spain and Cuban independence fighters. Cuba’s rebellion against Spanish rule had begun in 1895, and the U.S. felt compelled to defend its interests on the island. The Maine was meant to project stability. Instead, it became a geopolitical crisis.

Immediately after the explosion, questions—and accusations—flew. Because distrust was running so high, only divers of American origin examined the wreckage. A hole near the forward gunpowder magazines was consistent with a mine or torpedo. But investigators could not rule out an internal blast, which would make the tragedy a grave accident but not an act of war.

A Spanish court quickly determined the explosion had been internal; a month later a U.S. court reached the opposite finding. No formal responsibility was assigned. But in the American press and public imagination, the verdict was in: “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain!” The tragedy happened at the height of the sensationalist yellow journalism era, and daily newspapers—eager to outsell one another—misreported or outright made up evidence for splashy headlines that blamed Spain and inflamed the public.

Indeed, two months later, the U.S. declared war, the country’s first major military engagement since the Civil War. The Spanish-American War lasted just four months—but it reshaped the world map. Spain ceded Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines; Cuba gained independence (under strong U.S. influence).

In 1912 the Maine—still resting in Havana Harbor in about 35 feet of water—was raised. Officials again concluded that the blast had been external. A recovery operation was completed, and the Maine was towed into deeper water and re-sunk with full military honors.

In 1976 a new analysis suggested a less dramatic possibility: Spontaneous combustion in the coal bunkers could have ignited the magazines.

It may have been spontaneous combustion. It certainly sparked something.