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USS Maine Aft Magazine Key Bag
Extremely rare and very interesting artifact from the USS Maine. Immediatley after the explosion the effort was made to determine the cause. One theory was that saboteurs had crept aboard and stolen the magazine keys and planted explosives within the magazines. The USN sent divers to explore Captain Sigsbee's cabin to locate the key bags. This is one of the bags and is stenciled "Magazine Aft". The bag measures about 5 X 8 inches, is made of leather and has a cloth draw string. The reverse of the bag has been varnished to preserve the bag and the ancient tag which is attached. "Taken from the Battle Ship Maine, February 17th, 1898, Havana Harbor by Jas H. Bierne (sic) Cabin --------- USN". Also included is an article that describes the search for the key bags, Navy Cipher codes and Signal books which was taken from the one of the publications on the Inquiry of the explosion. US Navy Divers made several attempts to locate the bags. Once the bags were found with their keys that theory at least was ruled out. I do not have the key, only the bag.
Price: $1,750.00
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