The record-union., 1898-03-29


keel. Olsen had reported that the keel
was sloping downward about 45 degrees
and to port with the after part of the
keel uppermost. He said he had exploited
the after wing of the Y, and had found a
semicircular hole about two feet below the
rivet holes around it. He said that a
to the top from the v made by the bot
tom plating. He said the plate presented
a Jagged appearance, as if it had been
torn, and that a crack had extended from
the bottom edge of the semicircular hole
a distance of about eight inches and that
the plates about this hole Were bent away
from the green side of the plating
Mr.. Powellson continued: Olsen had
told him he had found a hole cut in d
plate twenty-five feet from the angle Of
the V and exhibited sketch showing
ing down sixty-five degrees below the
horizontal and TO port. The point where
feet under water. He had not followed
the keel at that point. as the platings be-
tween which he was wedged opened so
that he had nothing to support him.
OPENING IN THE SHIPS SIDE.
Mr. Pcwelson said Olsen testified that
about twenty feet from the sluice valve
he found an opening in the ships side.
He had found boarding near the sea sue
tion in apartment A10, about twenty-one
feet from the sluice valve, in an almost
verytical position, although it was origi-
nally horizontal.
IF you consider the section of the ship
between frame is and 13," continued Mr..
Powellson. land consider that the part of
the bottom floating between frame IS and
the whole section is turned forward
through 80 degrees, you will picture the
position in which the plates are now
found This plating could either have
been showed out from the after side or it
could have been pushed in from the for
ward side The only indication as to how
this was done is the wooden boarding. If
the after part of the plating had been
pushed out from the. inside the board
ing would have been broken at the angle
which the plates make. If the forward
part of the plating had been pushed the
boards would have been pulled away from
the after plating as is the case with the
The Judge-Advocate asked Mr. Powell
son how he looked upon the others tes-
timony in view of his knowledge of the
Maine and the drawings of the vessel. He
replied that he regarded it as extremely
accurate.
EXPLOSION OCCURRED ON PORT
SIDE.
The Judge-Advocate asked Mr.. Powell
son what he deduced from all this teSti-
mony received from the diver that fore
noon, together with what information he
had before
Mr.. Powelson replied that he thought
the explosion occurred on the port side
somewhere about frame 49, center of i'm
pact The ship yielded at L and also at
10, but 1t was pretty hard to say eX-
actly where the impact came. Frame 10
was blown in.
How do you account for the immense
! damage done abreast of the reserve mag
azine. where there is nothing left. where
as between frames is and IS you have
found damaged plates?" Mr.. Powellson
was asked.
My idea" he replied, 'is that after
the ship raised up at frame 49, the maga-
zines, one or all of them. after that We're
exploded for some powder tanks that I
have seen, I think, were exploded. While
others L have seen were not exploded I
saw magazine that was brought up this
most of the powder cases that came up.
1t looked in very much the same condi
ton"
EXPLOSION OF POWDER TANKS.
When you say some of the powder
tanks. in your opinion, exploded, and
some had not. do you refer to 6-inch tanks
only or 2-inch tanks also?"
Il refer to both as / have seen a 6-inch
tank that was very little ripped open. and
saw one this morning that had been first
opened and tiattened out, with evidences
tank that was scarcely battered at all,
and only the head of it gone. ! also saw
! 10-inch tanks with packing which looked
like powder. unburnt. so that, in my opin-
| ion, some, but not all, of the 10-inch and
6-inch charges were exploded.
Mr.. Powelson~ said four or five tanks
he did not see all of them. The only one
he remembered seeing was exploded and
burned out so that the case formed almost
a plain surface The 10-inch tank had its
head removed, but it had preserved it's ap-
proximate shape.
CAUSE OF THE INJURIES.
When questioned further as to what he
regarded as the cause of the injuries, Mr..
PoWellson said: On the bottom where
the frame was thrown up ii would seem
to me that force was communicated some
distance through the water. because it
was lifted up instead of being battered
in. 1t was a force that was cushioned in
some way, because the diver tells me
that there was bulge in the plates be-
! fran md JaI1
as that would be a cushion pressure. So
the plates in that part of the ship hav-
ing been broken in, the explosion may
| have occurred aft. and the frames for
ward of the transverse armor being weak,
as they are aft the ship might have been
lifted up there py this cushion pressure
from further aft
1T struck me- continued Mr.. Powell
SON. speaking of the same part of the
vessel, that the mine there could not
have been very close to those plates
that were lifted up, because, as 1 say the
plates are not so much damaged or bent
in the form of a and raised up vert-
cal distance. 1t seems to me that the
mine was somewhat removed. and the
pressure came through the water. which
produced that cushion-sort of pressure"
BOTTOM PLATES BLOWN UP.
Ensign Powellson was recalled on Feb
ruary 25th and showed the plans of the
Maine, from which he had identified the
bottom plates that were blown up through
the upper deck. The finding of these
plates on top of the wreck. clear above
water. was among the first and most i'm
portant points of evidence clearly dis
proving the possibility of an internal ex-
piosion
After minutely describing the bottom
plates, with their green coating of paint
and other marks by which they were
identified, PoweIlson stated that they
must have been blown up thirty-eight or
/ thirty-nine feet to reach their present po
sition.
Besides the bottom plates, Powellson
found some peeves from the bottom COM
partment lodged in the angle of the bot
water The berth deck over this bottom
compartment was also on top of the
wreck and twenty feet forward of the
plates.
While this section of the main deck has
disappeared the diver who had been
working for Powellson on this investiga-
ton had informed him that he had found
the ammunition for the 6-inch magazine
pushed over to the starboard side
REPORTS OF DIVERS.
Ensign Powellson was recalled on the
eleventh day, and DESCRIBED the reports
made TO him by the divers. which were
| afterward directly testified to before the
| board.
"On March, 9TH" testified Powellson, 81
sent Olsen down the piece of keel, the
| vertical keel. TO make further explora
tons of the 10-inch magazine. He went
down TO where the keel became horizontal,
frame %, walked aft about twenty-five
feet, and climbed over a lot of wreckage
consisting of plates and bulkheads stand
| ing upright. The ends were ragged and
he crawled over them to what he thought
was a part of boiler He could not give
definite details. but he thought It was a
boiler. A little after this he walked out
to port, clear of the ship in the mud. He
was at this time forward Of the break
of the ship at frame IL. Returning about
ten feet in he found wreckage He ex-
amined this plate, and found it curved as
if it vas a part of the ship. 1t pointed
toward the starboard bow but it was so
dark he could not distinguish the color
All the edges of the plating were rough.