Thousands of people turned out for the funeral cortege and watched as the Spanish military bore the 19 elaborate coffins with great ceremony through the streets to Colon Cemetery, Havana.

[40] Divers discovered another 20 bodies trapped below the forward hatch of the center section on February 23, but only three were brought to the surface as wreckage prevented the rest from being immediately retrieved.

Father John P. Chidwick,[73] the Roman Catholic chaplain aboard the Maine at the time of its destruction, had overseen the original interments in February and March 1898.

[74] Disinterment also revealed a new problem: At the time of burial, identified remains had a number painted on the exterior of the coffin that corresponded with a name on Chidwick's list of dead.

Many American flags and wreaths evergreens and artificial flowers were placed on the canvas coverings, and the coffins guarded by U.S. Marines day and night until the ship reached Hampton Roads.

Expected to arrive at 8:00 a.m. on December 27, it did not do so until 11:00 a.m. Captain Sigsbee did not take the funeral train to Washington, but rather rode a steamboat up the Potomac River to reach the city faster.

[29][81] A grassy knoll at Arlington National Cemetery adjacent to the burial field containing the dead of the Santiago campaign was chosen by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles Herbert Allen for the reinterment.

Citizens in Washington, D.C., began collecting voluntary contributions from members of Congress and wealthy people in society to erect a memorial shaft as early as February 24, 1898.

Two Spanish mortars – taken by Admiral George Dewey from Cavite Arsenal in Manila, The Philippines, at the end of the Spanish–American War—were placed on brick piers on either side of this base.

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge introduced a bill the same month providing $1 million to raise the Maine and repatriate any remains found to the United States.

[104] But no action was taken on either bill, even though there were published reports in November 1902 that the Cuban guard on the ship had been removed and relic hunters had stripped all the copper from the wreck.

[113] Not only did de Wyckoff protest the Sewell firm's involvement, but the United States informed all concerned in July 1904 that it retained ownership of the Maine and would vigorously prosecute anyone interfering with the wreck.

The Boston Seaman's Friend Society, an association of merchant mariners and their supporters, proposed retrieving the ship's main mast and erecting it as a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

[115] In 1908, on the tenth anniversary of the disaster, Representative Charles August Sulzer introduced legislation requesting the raising of the USS Maine and the burial of any dead which remained aboard her.

[126] The full House of Representatives passed the legislation on March 23, after having amended it to require the Army Corps of Engineers to do the work and for construction of a new memorial featuring the Maine's mast at Arlington.

[138] Preliminary borings and additional soundings were made the following week, giving the Special Board enough information to make more formal plans for salvaging the wreck.

[147] The first human remains (some ribs and small wrist bones), found outside the hull, were brought to the surface on January 3, 1911, by Cuban divers working on the Maine.

[148] The top of the starboard turret was detected some 100 feet (30 m) from the wreck in late February after piles being driven into the mud and clay of Havana Harbor struck the object.

Additionally, workers were recovering a very large number of relics such as bayonets, binoculars, books, clothing, dishes, and papers (some of them in watertight boxes, and still dry).

[28] A nearly two-week delay in recovering additional remains occurred in late June and early July as workers struggled to remove mud from the interior of the stern.

[170] As the last 4 feet (1.2 m) of water was pumped out and the suction dredges began removing the soft mud around the bow, the remains of four more individuals were found near the conning tower.

While members of the House disagreed over whether to sell parts of the Maine, they were united in allowing the Secretary of the Navy to donate relics and portions of the hull to any municipality or patriotic organization which asked for them.

Under an agreement with the Cuban authorities, the Corps dredged the entire area in and around the shipwreck to a depth of 37.5 feet (11.4 m) to ensure that no material remained in the mud or clay which might present a danger to navigation.

)[162] President Gomez ordered all flags in the city to fly at half-mast and the minute guns at La Cabaña and Morro Castle to fire every 30 seconds every day that dead were brought to the surface.

[208][209] The coffins were moved from La Cabaña to city hall (the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales) the evening of March 14, where the bodies lay in state overnight.

Accompanying the funeral cortege were Brigadier General William Herbert Bixby, Army Corps Chief of Engineers; Julio de Cárdenas, Mayor of Havana; Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso, Vice President of Cuba; and members of the Cuban Cabinet.

As the North Carolina passed out of the harbor, soldiers of the Cuban Army lined the walls of La Cabaña and Morro Castle and stood at attention while a military band played a funeral dirge.

Just two years earlier, Congress had established the United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), and gave the body the power to advise regarding the siting of monuments and memorials.

At noon, President Wilson led a march of dignitaries and veterans from the White House to the Civil War Unknowns Monument, where he laid a wreath.

On November 15, his body was accompanied by a military guard of honor from the Turkish Embassy to Arlington National Cemetery, where it was temporarily interred in the Maine Mast Memorial.