WAR WITH SPAIN

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 235, 26 May 1932, Page 2

WAR WITH SPAIN

SINKING OF THE AMERICAN BATTLESHIP MAINE. INDEPENDENCE OF CUBA. Rememher the Maine? If you are old' enough you will recall the eventful date of February 15, 1898, when the United States battleship Maine, on a frisndly visit to Cuba, was blown up in Havana Harbour. It is 34 years since that tragic event, which claimed the lives of 266 seamen .and plunged America into a war with Spain. The island of Cuba had suffered for many years under the misgovernment of the Spaniards. The people of Cub'a were in open revolt against -Spain, and guerrilla warfare had heen under way for several years when the Maine was dispatched on a peaceful mis'sion to the capital of the largest island of the "Antilles. American sympathy at the time was very strong for thC Cuhans. The blowing up of the battleship brought a cry for action from the American people. Caused by Mine. A United States board of inquiry made an extensive examination of the wreck in Havana Harbour and reported to the Navy Department, on March 21, that the explosion had been caused by an exterior mine, the principal reason for that decision being the upheaval of the ship's bottom. Spain offiicially expressed sympathy to the American Government, but refused to accept blame for the disaster. The Madrid Government's haughty attitude brought the situation to a head quickly. On April 20 President McKinley approved a resolution demanding the withdrawal of Spain from Cuba. Two days later the President declared a blockade of Cuban ports On April 24 Spain declared war upon the United States, and the following day the United States Congress declared that war "had existed since" April 21. j America was victorious in every de- ■ partment of the confiict. A Spanish fleet was destroyed by Commodore Dewey in Manila Bay; another fleet, the pride of Spain, was battered to pieces by the combined squadrons of Admirals Sampson and Schley as it attempted to escape from the harbour of Santiago de Cuba; Spanish land forces were soundly whipped in a series of actions in the vicinity of Santiago. Spain Capitulates. Spain soon saw the uselessness of attempting to continue the war further. As Amerea was getting into full stride for new military and naval activities, Madrid aslced for peace. Tbe peace protocol was signed on August 12, and hostilities ceased on that day, though a treaty of peace was not signed until later. The ultimate result of America's victory was the independence of Cuba. America's battle cry throughout the war was "Remember the Maine!" The wrecked battleship lay in Havana Harbour for many years . In 1910 Congress appropriated a sum to meet the expenses of raising the vessel and towing it to sea. On February 13, 1912, the Maine was lifted from the harbour. bottom. Its fighting mast was planted in the national eemetery at Arlington, just across the Potomac River from Washington. Grouped about the mast, which is a memorial to the men who died in the explosion, are the graves of the seamen of the Maine who perished on that eventful night of 1898. Captain Charles D. Sigsbee, commander of the Maine at the time it was blown up, lived to he a rear-ad-miral of the navy, dying in 1923 at an old age.