Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Rohit Shetty
Category:Bollywood listsThe United States is in the midst of a legal dispute with Britain over the ownership of the century-old wreck of the USS Maine.
The S.S. Maine was blown up by a Japanese bomb in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, on Feb. 15, 1898, sparking an American invasion of Cuba that ended the Spanish-American War.
A US Senate commission concluded that the ship was destroyed accidentally by a new type of cannon shell, not the bomb that was supposedly dropped by a pair of rogue Japanese naval officers.
The American Navy and its allies lost 1,100 sailors.
But the Spanish lost 1,962 sailors and 40 warplanes in the battle.
In 1998, the US admitted that the 1906 law that required American ships visiting foreign ports to be towed out to sea wasn’t the reason that the Maine had not been raised yet.
Even so, since then, a group called the Maine Memorial Association has fought to have the ship raised. In 2004, a group called the Maine Republican Party made a $1.1 million commitment to raise the ship. But then, the group lost interest.
The Maine is a national historic treasure, and the Maine Memorial Association has fought to have it raised to its original glory since at least 2010. It is now considered more of a victim of US politics than the Maine itself.
The Trump administration is taking steps to raise the wreck. But there are still a few hurdles to be cleared, and it is not certain that the project will ever get started.
Why does the Maine matter?
The Maine was the first battleship in the American navy. The ship was named after Maine, and its nickname was “Maine’s Own.” The wreck was raised in 1876, and put on display at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and then the New York Navy Yard. The US Navy needed to build a new battleship and the Maine was a perfect candidate.
The Maine was more than 100 feet longer and over twice as heavy as the previous ship, the Minnesota, which was raised in 1879.
On February 15, 1898, the Maine left New York and steamed into Cuban waters. American troops fought against Spanish forces on the island for a month.
According to a February 17, 1898, account in The New York Times, the Maine was ste ac619d1d87
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