National Geographic History - 03.2019 - 04.2019

flames showed the vessel with a mine
immediately under it. For good mea-
sure Hearst created a “War with Spain”
card game.
The World sent divers to conduct an
investigation, but Spanish authorities
squelched their attempt. A U.S. naval
investigation laid blame for the tragedy,
as Hearst’s drawing had suggested, on
a Spanish submarine mine. Journalist
George Bronson Rea, ever alert to fakes
and also a trained engineer, was singu-
lar in his outright dispute of this finding.
The World chided McKinley for not
rushing to war after the sinking of the

Maine. A few responsible newspapers

counseled caution. But the public did

remember the Maine, and those rec-

ollections helped push the country to

war several months later.

Later inquiries, including one by the

National Geographic Society on the

hundred-year anniversary of the sink-

ing, have suggested the explosion was

due to accidental causes, perhaps a fire

in the coal bunker putting off enough

heat to ignite the adjacent powder

magazine. But no universally accepted

explanation has been reached for what

was behind the sinking of the Maine.

THE SUNKEN

REMAINS OF THE

MAINE IN HAVANA

HARBOR

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 83

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