Post #24180 by Lapsody on the US Policy board

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Interesting you mentioned the Maine. Officially, it was destroyed by an external explosion (e.g. mine). But the surviving sailors, and subsequent investigation (unofficial) has determined moderately conclusively that it was a coal storage fire that heated the bulkheads of the powder magazine, which then set off the explosion**. So the official explanation appears to be wrong.

Note: I looked it up, and apparently Rickover (of submarine fame) revisited this in the 70s and found the likely cause was the coal bunker igniting the powder magazine. It isn't clear to me that the official explanation was revised, despite Rickover's paper. NatGeo also investigated it, but didn't arrive at a solid conclusion. Discovery Channel also investigated, and concluded it was a coal bunker fire.

Yep, that was the allusion. I learned as an adult that it was a coal bunker explosion. But it was a great rallying point.

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