TRAINEE GUIDE - Recruit Training Command - The US Navy

TRAINEE GUIDE A-950-0001
OUTLINE SHEET 1-08-1 (continued)
2 Of concerns about the safety of U.S. citizens
living in Cuba.
3 The Battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in
Havana Harbor, Cuba killing 250 Sailors.
a U.S. citizens were outraged and blamed
Spain for the catastrophe.
b The words, "Remember the Maine!" became the
battle cry for the war.
(b) During the Spanish-American War, the U.S. Navy:
1 Blockaded Cuba.
2 Battled enemy ships in Cuba and the Philippines.
3 Transported U.S. troops.
(c) In December 1898, a peace treaty was signed with
Spain.
f. Transitional period after the Spanish-American War (1899-1914)
(1) In 1900, the USS Holland, the first operational submarine,
was commissioned. The Holland was powered by a gasoline
engine on the surface and battery-powered electric motors
when submerged.
(2) In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt sent 16 battleships
and four destroyers around the world to show our Naval
strength. They were called “The Great White Fleet”; white
was the Navy’s peacetime color scheme.
(3) In 1910, Eugene Ely, a civilian pilot, made the first shipto-shore
flight. He flew a biplane off the cruiser
Birmingham on Hampton Roads, Virginia.
g. World War I (1914-1918)
(1) Overview
(a) The U.S. entered the war in 1917 largely due to the
unrestricted sinking of merchant ships by German
submarines.
(b) During World War I, the U.S. Navy:
1 Transported soldiers and supplies to Europe in
convoys.
2 Conducted antisubmarine warfare.
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