Washington sentinel., 1898-03-19
Disasters co wAr.h,Ps.
MsrU York Herald.

There have been only six cases
of catastrophes which in any way
parallel the destruction OF the
Maine. Three OF these occurred
IN the English navy, one in the
German navy, one in the!Spanish
navy, and one in the United States
navy.
The United States man-of-war
Missouri, while lying at Gibraltar
in 1885, was totally wrecked by the
explosion of her magazine.
A case famous IN naval history
is that OF Her Majesty's ship Dot
ereI. In 1887 she was lying at
anchor off Punta Arenas, in the
Straits OF Magellan. An explosion
wiped the ship from the face OF the
waters. All but few OF her crew
perished. This was case Of mag
azine explosion, though 1t may
have originated in the coal bunkers
or boilers.
The British ship Captain, an iron
armored turret, 5000 tons, found
cred at sea in 1871. She was at
tached to the China feet, and had
already made two cruises. In one
OF these she faced heavy gale and
weathered it successfully. On Sept.
6, 1871, she made a third trip to
the China squadron, and while near
Cape FinIsterre went down in a
gale in the night. The weather
was so thick that the rest OF the
squadron did not know of the loss
OF the Captain until morning. The
loss was 500 officers and men.
The Vanguard. belonging to the
English channel squadron, was
rammed by the Iron Duke IN a fog
on Sept. 1. 1875. The Iron Duke
at the time was steaming at about
seven knots, and struck the Van
guard, steaming about six knots,
below her armor Just abaft the
mainmast, on the fore quarter
abreast the engine room. A large
hole about twenty FIVE feet square
was torn in her bottom, through
which the water came in torrent.
One Of the engineers forced open
the boiler valves and allowed the
steam to escape, thereby averting
an explosion. The Vanguard did
not sink until an hour after the
collision. Meantime the Iron
Duke stood by her consort, and
the men were transferred to her
with perfect order. The Vanguard
carried crew of $50 men.
While a German squadron oil
three ironclads-the Koenig Will
helm, the Grosser Kurfurst, and
the Preussen-were on a cruise
from Wilhelmshaven to Ports
mouth, England. in 1873, the Koe-
mig Wilhelm ran into the Grosser
Kurfurst, striking her between the
main and the mizzen masts. The
Kurfurst lurched to starboard, the
water pouring through down in the
fire room, flooding the furnaces,
while the steam escaped with great
violence. An attempt was made
by the captain Of the Kurfurst to
run her into shallow water. OF
her crew of 4o7, aI6 were picked
up, OF whom three afterward died
OF exhaustion. Twenty three Off
GERS were saved and six drowned.
While proceeding with the fleet
from Beyrout to Tripoli, the Brit
ish battleship Victoria was rammed
by the Camperdown. The Vic
toria was single turreted battle
ship OF the first class. The total |
number of officers and crew was
6S9. The Camperdown struck the
Victoria very nearly at right
angles just forward of the turret.
Ten minutes after the collision the
Victoria gave a tremendous reel |
to starboard and sank, bow first.
Although the other vessels of the |
fleet rendered every assistance, gar
officers and men were lost,
The Reina Regente foundered |
in storm in March, 1895, while
proceeding from Spain to Algiers.
No trace of her has ever been dis
covered. This vessel was an arm
ored cruiser similar to the Austria
liam type of the English navy.
There have been several catas-
trophies among the cruiser class,in
which there was heavy loss of life.
Among these were the loss Of the
japanese cruiser Elebi at sea. A
French floating battery, the Aro.
gante, foundered, and the British
have lost two gunboats, the Wasp /
and the Severn, at sea.
Explosions of both guns and |
boilers have occurred at different |
times on the British ship Thunder.
There have been several cases
on United States vessels where |
spontaneous combustion in the
coal bunkers has ignited the mag
azines protected by them. Fires |
in the vicinities of the magazines
have occurred on the New York |
and the Cincinnati.