At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two and the flat keel bent into an angle similar to the angle formed by the outside bottom plates. This break is now about six feet below the surface of the water and about thirty feet above its normal position.
In the opinion of the Court, this effect could have been produced only by the explosion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship, at about frame 18, and somewhat on the port side of the ship.
The conclusions of the Court are:
That the loss of the "Maine" was not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or members of her crew.
That the ship was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or more of her forward magazines; and,
That no evidence has been obtainable fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the "Maine" upon any person or persons.
Partial View of the Wreck of the "Maine."
To-day, in the midst of war with Spain, we have no more definite, no more authoritative knowledge of the cause of this disaster than this. Spain, indeed, through her official commission, decided that the explosion was wholly internal, but the American people is not convinced. Battleships are not in the habit of blowing themselves up, and it is the expectation that the establishment of American authority in Cuba will be followed by the unraveling of this murderous plot. Undoubtedly an anecdote told of Captain Robley D. Evans (Fighting Bob) of the navy expresses the popular conviction: