DESTRUCTION OF USS MAINE -
SURVEY of DAMAGE
The explosion and fire aboard the USS MAINE resulted in her complete destruction. The destruction occurred quickly, the majority of it happening within a matter of seconds.
The first observations of the damage to the vessel were made from the water surface. Subsequently, more in-depth observations were made of the wreck by divers. Later, when a cofferdam was built around the wreck almost fifteen years after the explosion and the water drained, the damage could be examined in the light of day.
From the surface, the view was already appalling. The ship settled into the mud at a depth of 36 feet. Protruding through the surface of the water were the mainmast, a toppled stack, boat davits,
searchlight tower, deck plating, canvas canopies still attached to the wreck and in place, and most surprisingly, a portion of the vessel's keel (the keel is the structural "spine" of the vessel, running from bow to stern along the very bottom of the ship). All of these items were thrown into a jumbled mass.
The subsequent observations showed the full extent of the damage resulting from the explosion. Most observations of the damage use the MAINE's structural frames as common reference points in discussing the wreck. The frames are the "ribs" of the vessel, extending from the keel, or "spine" at the bottom of the vessel, upwards along the side of the ship's hull. The MAINE had approximately ninety of these frames in her 388 foot length.
The descriptions also generally divided the wreckage into four sections based on a pattern of damage. The first section extended from the bow to frame 18, a distance of about sixty feet. Frame 18 was almost directly under the MAINE's foremast. The second section extended from frame 18 to frame 30, a distance of about
forty-eight feet. This section ended just forward of the beginning of the vessel's superstructure. The third section extended from frame 30 to frame 41, with frame 41 being almost the midpoint of the vessel, in line with the space between the two stacks. The last, fourth, section of the vessel was comprised of the last half of the ship, or the portion aft of frame 41.
The first section of the vessel, that portion between the bow and frame 18, had tilted to starboard, while simultaneously being twisted to point to port. The bow's ram was pointed down into the muddy harbor bottom. At frame 18, the keel was pushed upward, with the ship bending into an inverted "V" shape at this point. The
top of the "V" was 31 feet above the point where it should have been. Basically, the bottom of the vessel had been pushed up through the numerous decks and was left exposed on the surface of the harbor. The upper deck was peeled back and shoved forward towards the bow like the pull tab on a tin of meat.
One reason for the extremely high loss of life, and the disproportionately high percentage loss of men to loss of officers was the location of the major damage to the vessel in sections one and two. The inverted "V", formed by the bottom of the vessel smashing up through the numerous decks, would have shot through
the center of the vessel's major crew's quarters. Here, most of the men who were off duty, about three quarters of the men on board, would have been hanging in their hammocks trying to get some sleep.
The second section of the vessel showed the most damage. It almost did not exist at all. This section began at the inverted "V" and extended aft to frame 30. Here, the hull plating was simply gone. The thin keel still held, tying section one to sections three and four. The inverted "V" extended aft to frame 22. From this
point, the keel sloped slowly downward, aft. The plating next to the keel in the vicinity of frames 27 to 31 was dished up about two feet, with rivets popped and seams torn. In the same approximate area, the bottom plating was pushed up and in, and to starboard, through approximately 180 degrees. At frames 29 and 30, the
protective deck, an armored deck deep within the vessel, which shielded the most vital areas such as magazines, engine rooms, boiler rooms, etc., was bent nearly straight up at 90 degrees to where it should have been.
Again, the second half of the crews' quarters was directly over the nearly missing section two.
The third section of the wreckage extended from frame 20 to 41. In this area, the protective deck was broken and forced upward and to starboard. The upper decks were thrown upward and aft, pivoting
around frame 41. The conning tower was located within this section. This feature of the vessel was an armored cylinder which contained the vessel's command and control center when in battle. This small space housed a ship's wheel, engine order telegraphs, and primitive shipboard communications. In battle, when
commanding from the bridge became dangerous or foolhardy, command was shifted to the conning tower. The MAINE's fifty ton conning tower was hurled aft in the explosion, landing upside-down about 85 feet aft of where it had been located. Through this section, the keel continued its downward slope to aft.
The last, or fourth, section of the vessel was the least damaged portion of the wreckage. This section compromised basically the rear half of the ship, from frame 41 to the stern. In this area, the main deck was lifted upward about two feet. The officers' quarters were located in this section, accounting for the survival of many of the ship's officers.
Bibliography:
Blow Michael, "A Ship to Remember", New York: William Morrow and Co., Inc., 1992.
