Anchor from the U.S.S. Maine

This 19th-century ships anchor belonged to the USS Maine, a U.S. Navy battleship that exploded and sank in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, under circumstances never conclusively determined. The disaster killed 266 sailors and was amplified by the yellow press into a casus belli, launching the Spanish-American War under the rallying cry 'Remember the Maine!' After the wreck was partially raised in 1912, salvaged artifacts including anchors were distributed to cities across the country as memorials. The Reading anchor is a quiet, often-overlooked fragment of one of the most consequential media events in American history.