Historedia
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Explosion and Sinking

When
1898-02-15
Where
Havana Harbor, Havana, Cuba
Part of
USS Maine explodes in Havana Harbor, precipitating the Spanish–American War

The USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana Harbor on the evening of February 15, 1898, killing 268 sailors.

At 9:40 P.M., the ship suffered a massive explosion and sank. The cause remains a subject of debate, with hypotheses ranging from an external mine to a coal fire. The event contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April.

Sources

  1. USS Maine (1890) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
  2. Spanish–American War Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-10
  3. Havana Harbor Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-25

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.