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It was six bells, or 11 a.m., Jan. 25, 1898. On the holystoned quarterdeck of the battleship USS Maine (ACR-1) stood First Lieutenant Albertus W. Catlin, who in another war would be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the picture of a Marine officer-dark-blue jacket with gold-braided sleeves and Mameluke sword indicative of his rank and station. Behind him, resplendent in the Caribbean sun, under spiked white helmets, dress-blue bedecked leathernecks of his detachment stood in armed formation. Around them were white-jumpered tars and their officers, 354 in all, aboard Maine as she steamed proudly beneath the Spanish guns of Morro Castle through Canal del Puerto and into colonial Cuba's Havana Harbor.
Indeed Maine was awesome to behold. She was unique in that she was totally designed and built by Americans. In an age when man thought machines could conquer and accomplish anything, Maine, at 319 feet and displacing 6,682 tons, was the largest vessel to be built in a U. S. Navy shipyard. One of the country's first steel warships, she symbolized man's faith in technology at the height of the Industrial Age, and, more importantly, America's emergence as a naval power.
Catlin and the rest of Maine's complement had every reason to be proud. The 45-star national ensign fluttered over the alabaster hull, gold trim med with 10inch breech-loading rifles, 6-inch guns, rapid-firing 6-pounders and torpedo tubes bristling all under her scarlet-painted dual smokestacks. How could the Spaniards, Cubans and indeed the world not be impressed?
America had come of age.
USS Maine was entering Havana on only a few hours' notice. The Spanish government was hoping to negotiate an end to a bloody three-year rebellion which had cost more than 100,000 lives. By allowing some "self-governing" within the colony, the Spaniards wanted to appease Cuban guerrilla forces, led by Jose Marti, seeking full independence.
The rebellion had strained relations between Madrid and Washington. The newspapers of William Randolph Hearst and his rival, Joseph Pulitzer, told Americans of the bitter struggle between the Cuban people and their imperial rulers led by Governor General Valeriano "Butcher" Weyler. Americans' sympathies naturally lay with the rebels and American volunteer "filibusters" went south to fight for the Cuban cause. There was some talk in Washington circles...