Answer:
The sinking of the USS Maine changed over time. In 1899 Charles D. Sigsbee’s account who was the Captain of USS Maine at the time of the incident of the Maine sinking. Charles D. Sigsbee’s account was enclosed in a letter in 1899, his account was considered a reliable source about the sinking since it was written by the captain where he describes the explosion. His account had opinions and not facts. He stated the explosion occurred outside the ship and the people on the shore were cheering afterwards. He also felt the explosion was intentional attack since he thought he heard people cheering.
In 1975, Admiral Rickover on Captain Sigsbee’s testimony is described in his book, “How the battleship Maine was destroyed”. Rickover describes his opinion of Sigsbee’s account was unreliable because his familiarity of the ship was limited. Rickover concluded a coal bunker was located near the ammunition supplies aboard the ship. The significant piece of related evidence was in Ib S. Hansen and Robert S. Price examination of the technical evidence where it stated, “We have found no technical evidence in the records examined that an external explosion initiated the destruction of the Maine. The available evidence is consistent with an internal explosion alone. We therefore conclude that an internal source was the cause of the explosion. The most likely source was heat from a fire in the coal bunker adjacent to the 6-inch reserve magazine. However, since there is no way of proving this, other internal causes cannot be eliminated as possibilities”
The evidence was then evaluated by National Geographic in 1998 by Thomas B. Allen. Today’s technology showed a piece of the evidence related to the sinking using computer models. It showed different possible scenario and inconclusive evidence. Computer analysis showed that even a small handmade mine could have penetrated the ship’s hull and cause the explosion. More reliable source was that heat form the fire in the coal bunker adjacent to the ammunition more than likely caused the explosion. But experts today really can’t definitively say what had caused the explosion.
Explanation: PUT in your own words. Read the reading your given and remember you answered these questions prior to the writing assignment.