The appalling calamity fell upon the people of our country with crushing force and for a brief time an intense excitement prevailed, which in a community less just and self-controlled than ours might have led to hasty acts of blind resentment.  This spirit, however, soon gave way to the calmer processes of reason and to the resolve to investigate the facts and await material proof before forming a judgment as to the cause, the responsibility, and, if the facts warranted, the remedy.  This course necessarily recommended itself from the outset to the Executive, for only in the light of a dispassionately ascertained certainty could it determine the nature and measure of its full duty in the matter.

The usual procedure was followed, as in all cases of casualty or disaster to national vessels of any maritime state.  A Naval Court of Inquiry was at once organized, composed of officers well qualified by rank and practical experience to discharge the duties imposed upon them.  Aided by a strong force of wreckers and divers, the court proceeded to make a thorough investigation on the spot, employing every available means for the impartial and exact determination of the causes of the explosion.  Its operations have been conducted with the utmost deliberation and judgment, and while independently pursued, no source of information was neglected and the fullest opportunity was allowed for a simultaneous investigation by the Spanish authorities.

Report of the board received.

The finding of the Court of Inquiry was reached after twenty-three days of continuous labor, on the 21st of March, and having been approved on the 22d by the commander-in-chief of the United States naval forces of the North Atlantic station, was transmitted to the Executive.

It is herewith laid before Congress, together with the voluminous testimony taken before the court.  Its purport is in brief as follows: 

When the Maine arrived at Havana she was conducted by the regular government pilot to Buoy No. 5, to which she was moored in from five and one-half to six fathoms of water.  The state of discipline on board and the condition of her magazines, boilers, coal bunkers and storage compartments are passed in review, with the conclusion that excellent order prevailed and that no indication of any cause for an internal explosion existed in any quarter.

At eight o’clock in the evening of February 15th everything had been reported secure and all was quiet.  At forty minutes past nine o’clock the vessel was suddenly destroyed.  There were two distinct explosions with a brief interval between them.  The first lifted the forward part of the ship very perceptibly; the second, which was more open, prolonged and of greater volume, is attributed by the court to the partial explosion of two or more of the forward magazines.

The evidence of the divers establishes that the after part of the ship was practically intact and sank in that condition a very few minutes after the explosion.  The forward part was completely demolished.  Upon the evidence of a concurrent external cause the finding of the court is as follows: