Bill Gorman
| Date and Place of Birth: | Date Unknown Boston, MA |
| Date and Place of Death: | February 15, 1898 Havana Harbor, Cuba |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | Second Base |
| Rank: | Ordinary Seaman |
| Military Unit: | US Navy |
| Area Served: | Caribbean |
William H. Gorman was from Boston,
Massachusetts. During the latter part of the 19th Century he served as
an Ordinary Seaman aboard the USS Maine (ACR-1), the United States
Navy's second commissioned battleship.
Gorman was second baseman and captain of the ships' baseball team, and
in Florida in December 1897, the team defeated a team from the cruiser
USS Marblehead, 18-3, to earn the title Navy baseball champions. Their
next game was scheduled with an all-star squad in Havana, Cuba, and the
Maine arrived in Havana Harbor in January.
On February 15, 1898, Marine Corps Fifer C.H. Newton, the ship’s bugler
and the ball team’s third baseman, blew taps as the Maine bobbed
listlessly in Havana Harbor. Shortly afterwards, the Maine blew up,
killing 261 of the crew, including Bill Gorman and all but the baseball
team’s right fielder, John Bloomer.
Two months after the loss of the USS Maine, on April 25, 1898, saw the
start of the Spanish-American War, during which the rallying cry,
“Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!” was frequently heard.
Date Added: February 25, 2013
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