Iwas 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. this is a reliable source mainly because it is dated 1899, which was only a year after the ship’s sinking. it is based on secondhand information about the maine sinking. it appeared in a fictional story about the sinking of the maine. it was written by a person who was on board during the sinking.