Oct 10, 2014 REMEMBER the MAINE! HPC recently acquired a part of a museum collection that included a small piece of the USS Maine and will create one HPC custom designed Solid Sterling Silver heirloom pen and matching set of cuff links for this very rare piece of US History. The blowing up of the battleship USS Maine in Havana harbor on the evening of February 15, 1898 and the loss of almost 300 American souls was a critical event on the road to that Spanish-American War. The destruction of Maine did not cause the U.S. to declare war on Spain, but it served as a catalyst, accelerating the approach to a diplomatic impasse. In addition, the sinking and deaths of U.S. sailors rallied American opinion more strongly behind armed intervention. The phrase "Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain!" became a rallying cry for action, which came with the Spanish-American War later that year. This piece of the USS Maine was recovered in 1911 when the Navy Department ordered a board of inquiry after Congress voted funds for the removal of the wreck of Maine from Havana Harbor. U.S. Army engineers built a cofferdam around the sunken battleship, thus exposing it, and giving naval investigators an opportunity to examine and photograph the wreckage in detail.
