The Spanish American War
The Spanish American War was a war fought between the U.S and Spain. On the night of February 15, 1898 Spain sunk the U.S.S. Maine which caused 266 men to lose their lives. Captain Charles Sigsbee and most of the officers survived because their quarters were in the aft portion of the ship. Altogether, there were only 89 people who survived, 18 of them were officers. On March 28, the US Naval Court of Inquiry in Key West declared that a naval mine caused the explosion. The explosion was a precipitating cause of the Spanish-American War that began in April 1898 and which William Randolph Hearst used the rallying cry, "Remember the Maine!, To hell with Spain!."