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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.
–Ib S. Hansen and Robert S. Price,
The U.S.S. Maine: An Examination of the Technical Evidence Bearing on Its Destruction,
1975
What is the most significant piece of evidence related to the sinking, according to this passage?
A coal bunker was located near ammunition supplies aboard the ship.
There is no evidence suggesting that a fire was the source of the explosion.
Unlike most ships of the era, the Maine was operated with coal.
The explosion seems to have started outside the ship.