Team locates USS Maine> Video shows sunken ship at final rest off Cuban coast

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Remember the USS Maine? In 1898, as the formidable American warship rested at anchor in Havana Harbor, it blew up and sank, claiming the lives of 266 U.S. Navy sailors.

Despite decades of debate over whether the terrible explosion was sabotage or accident, no cause was ever determined. At the time it happened, U.S. officials and the media blamed Spain, and used that as a reason to help Cuban revolutionaries overthrow Spanish rule – the Spanish-American War.

On Tuesday, a research team announced it had found the wreck of the Maine at its final resting place, three miles off the coast of Havana. The team unveiled videotape of the battleship, its port side furrowed into the sand deep in Cuban waters where it was scuttled on March 16, 1912, after being raised from where it blew up, near the entrance to Havana Harbor.

Just what sunk the Maine, however, will forever remain a mystery, said Paulina Zelitsky, Russian-born expedition leader.

A team of scientists and scholars from Canada, Cuba and the United States was testing a robot vehicle as part of its Explorama project in October in an area off Havana where the team sighted many wrecks, said Zelitsky’s son, Ernie Tapanes of Victoria, Canada.

“We needed targets for test purposes and we knew there were a few very identifiable wrecks in the area,” he said at a news conference at the University of South Florida College of Marine Sciences, which has ties to the project.

The group said it was the first deep water study done off the Cuban coast where water drops to a depth of 1,000 feet or more just a half-mile from Havana Harbor.

Using a computer to project images on a large screen, researchers showed videotape shot from a robotic vehicle scanning the wreck. They explained the advanced technology that enabled them to take sonar images and measure depth, current, temperatures in 3,600 feet of water; how they integrated software and control equipment.

They showed pictures of the superstructure, propellers, stern, hatch and tow chain – ship parts that matched old photographs of the USS Maine when it was the pride of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

The videotape also showed the hulk lacked a bow.

Years after the explosion, Navy salvors cut off the damaged bow of the ship and built a wooden bulkhead to replace it. The vessel was sealed and refloated for an investigation. Afterward, it was towed three miles offshore for a military burial. Valves were opened to sink the wreck, and as the 170-foot hull descended, the wooden makeshift bow crumbled.

The goal of Zelitsky and her company, Advanced Digital Communications, is to become the deep-water experts off Cuba.

“It is difficult to go deeper than 1,000 meters or about 3,000 feet. This brings to light what can be done in the deep ocean,” Tapanes said.

“It proves we can do what we promise to do,” Zelitsky said.

The Maine is a historic war memorial and remains the property of the U.S. government. It is well preserved because of the water’s depth and high salinity.

But with other wrecks found in the area – should booty be found – it would be shared by the company and the Cuban government, Zelitsky said.

The Maine, 318 feet long, was sent to Cuba in January 1898 to protect U.S. interests during a time of insurrection and civil disturbances. It blew up three weeks later – on Feb. 15.

While cause of the tragedy was never definitely resolved, it was a precipitating cause of the Spanish-American War.

“This is the conclusion of something that has been a mystery … finding its burial ground,” Tapanes said. “Every wreck has a story and people love hearing stories.”