William Tinsman
| Date and Place of Birth: | Date Unknown Susquehanna County, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | February 15, 1898 Havana Harbor, Cuba |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | Outfield |
| Rank: | Landsman |
| Military Unit: | US Navy |
| Area Served: | Caribbean |
William H. Tinsman was born in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, but
grew up in East Deering, Maine. Coming from a seafaring family, his
father, William H.H.Tinsman, having served on the USS Merrimack during
the Civil War, Tinsman enlisted with the Navy in 1897 and served as a
Landsman aboard the USS Maine (ACR-1), the United States Navy's second
commissioned battleship.
Tinsman was the leftfielder for 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 William Tinsman and all but the
baseball team’s right fielder, John Bloomer.
William Tinsman is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
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.
William Tinsman's grave at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia
Date Added February 25, 2013 Updated August 8, 2013
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