USS Maine (BB-10)

USS Maine (BB-10)

USS Maine (BB-10), the lead ship of her class of battleships, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the 23rd state.

The contract to build Maine was awarded to William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 1 October 1898, and her keel was laid down on 15 February 1899, a year to the day after the destruction of the first Maine. She was launched on 27 July 1901, sponsored by Miss Mary Preble Anderson of Portland, great granddaughter of Commodore Edward Preble. Maine Governor John Fremont Hill and his staff attended; and commissioned at Philadelphia on 29 December 1902, Captain Eugene Henry Cozzens Leutze, USNA 1867 in command.