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Monday, September 9, 2013

Remember The Maine

Not today, the Maine blew up and sank on January 25, but its remains might be in this picture.


Summary of comments on Shorpy:
From the (London) Times, Mar 13 1903: 'The North America and West Indies Squadron left Kingston, Jamaica, yesterday for Havana.'
There is a strong British naval presence in this photo. Four warships are anchored out, at least two of them obviously flying the White Ensign (the 4-funneled cruiser on the left). Each of these ships has a consort anchored exactly forward of her that looks like it's probably part of the same squadron. The change to 4 funnels in British cruisers was very recent in 1904.
Near the right hand edge of the picture, in the middle distance is a small heap of something. It is likely the remains of the USS Maine, which was destroyed in Havana Harbor in 1898. The Maine was only 324 feet long, about the size of a WWII destroyer escort, and it was only 6600 tons. There are plenty of private yachts that size now.
The ship at the wharf with the dark funnel is the Yuel Abajo (Yuel Below), Havana.

The mention of the "White Ensign" prompted me to do a little Wiki-Wandering wherein I encountered these tidbits of history: Epic Naval Voyages in the 1900's.
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 1907 to 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The hulls of these ships were painted a stark white, giving the armada their nickname.
In September 1904 the Russian Baltic Fleet was sent half way around the world to fight the Japanese at the Battle of Tsushima. The German Hamburg-Amerika Line provided 60 colliers to supply the Baltic Fleet on this epic journey. The decision to send the fleet to the Pacific was made after Russia had suffered a string of defeats at the hands of the Japanese Army in Manchuria. Two-thirds of the Russian fleet was destroyed. This historic naval battle broke Russian strength in East Asia and set the stage for the unsuccessful Russian Revolution of 1905, which began the decline that would see the monarchy brought down in 1917.

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