I was enclosing my letter in its envelope when the explosion came. It was a bursting, rending, and crashing sound or roar of immense volume, largely metallic in character. . . . The electric lights, of which there were eight in the cabin where I was sitting, went out. Then there was intense blackness and smoke. Read Captain Charles D. Sigsbee’s account of the sinking of the USS Maine, given in 1899. a] it is dated 1899, which was only a year after the ship’s sinking. b] it is based on secondhand information about the Maine sinking. c] it appeared in a fictional story about the sinking of the Maine. d] it was written by a person who was on board during the sinking.