For a number of years before 1898 the people of the United States had looked on the Spanish rule of Cuba with disfavor. The Cubans were harshly treated at the hands of the Spanish rulers. Many people in the United States felt that Cuba had a right to be free from such rule. Our relations with Spain were somewhat strained at the time. The battleship Maine was sent to the port of Havana the latter part of January, 1898. It was tied at one of the buoys (boi) in the harbor. On February 15, the battleship was blown up and completely wrecked. Two officers and 258 men of the crew were killed. Feeling ran high in the United States. The government appointed a commission to investigate. The commission found that the battleship had been blown up by a submarine mine.On April 25, Congress declared war upon Spain. The two chief battles of this war were fought by our navy. On May 1 Admiral Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. On July 3 the chief Spanish fleet, which had been bottled up in the harbor of Santiago, Cuba, tried to escape. All the Spanish vessels were sunk or driven ashore. In the battles on land the United States troops were generally successful. The hardest fighting occurred in Cuba about Santiago. With the fall of the city, the war was practically ended. The wrecked battleship Maine lay in the harbor of Havana until 1910. It was then decided to give it a sea burial. On March 16, 1912, the chief part of the wreck was towed into deep water, with a battleship and a scout cruiser to do the honors. Every minute they fired a gun salute. With its flag flying, the Maine went down gently to the bottom of the sea. Keystone ID: 9078 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.