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Engineering plan of cofferdam arrangement around the sunken battleship Maine.

Company news bulletin with story about raising the Maine.

Sheet piling rolled at Lackawanna Steel Company, ready for shipping.

Lackawanna Steel and the Raising of the Battleship Maine

In January of 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine was on a visit to Havana, Cuba. On the night of the 25th, a series of explosions destroyed the entire forward section of the ship and it sank in the harbor. This incident led to the Spanish-American War. Several years later, after the war had ended, a special board was appointed to develop a way to raise the ship and remove it from Havana Harbor. The task was assigned to the Corps of Army Engineers who selected a cofferdam cell system using sheet piling sections to dewater the area around the ship. Lackawanna Steel sheet piling was selected after the company guaranteed its product would meet or exceed design requirements. Sample tests confirmed the company's claim. The ship was successfully raised and towed out to sea. Lackawanna Steel's Engineering Department even provided the drawings used to accomplish this feat.

A copy of the original arrangement drawing along with steel piling samples are on exhibit at the museum.