Summary: Although sails and wind power had dominated naval propulsion for the previous five hundred years, it took less than fifty during the 19th century for every major navy to completely transition to steam power. Steam power opened the door to electricity generation, and the first American ships to have electricity had to be retrofitted to receive electrical systems. Our object today comes from the USS Maine, sunk in Havana, Cuba in 1898, and one of the first ships to be designed from the beginning with electrical power included.
