Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-04-15
DISASTERS TO WARSHIPS.
NAVAL cATASTRoPHES WHICH RE.
SUITED IN GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.


lei the destruction Of the Maine
Three of these occurred in the Eng
lish navy, one in the German navy,
one in the Spanish navy and one IN
the United States navy.
The United States man-of-war Mis-.
souri,, while lying at Gibraltar in 1885,
was totally wrecked by the explosion
OF her magazine.
A case famous in naval history il
that Of :Ier Majesty's ship Doterel,
In 1887 she was lying at anchor off
Punta Arenas, in the Straits Of Ma.
gellan. An explosion wiped the ship
from the face of the waters. All but
few Of her crew persisted This was
case of magazine explosion. though
it may have originated in the coal
bunkers or boilers.
The British ship Captain. nm iron
armorcd turret, 5000 tons, foundered
at sea in 1871. She was attached To
the China fleet, and had already made
two cruises. In one of these she faced
heavy gale and weathered il success
fully. On Sept. 9, 1871, she made II
third trip TO the China squadron, aud
while near Cape Finisterie went down
ii gale in the night. The weather
was 80 thick that the rest of the squad
ron 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 fog on
Sept. l, 1875. The Iron Duke at the
time was steaming at about seven
knots, and struck the Vanguard,
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 tho
steam To escape, thereby avcrting an
explosion. The Vanguard did not
sink until an hour after tho collision
consort, and the men were transferred
to her with perfect order. The Van.
guard carried crew Of $50 men.
While IA German squadron Of three
ironclads--the koenig Wilhelm, the
Grosser kurfurst and the Preussen--
were on u cruise from Wilhelmshaven
to Portsmouth, England, in 1873, the
Koenig Wilhelm ran into the Grosser
kurfurst, striking her between the
main and the mizzen masts. The
Kurfurst lurched to starboarl, 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 tho Kurfurst to run her into shal-
low water, but five minutes after the
time OF the collision she sank in If
teen fathoms of water. OF her crew
OF 497, 2l6 were picked up. Of whom
three afterward died of exhaustion.
Twenty-three officers were saved and
six drowned.
While proceeding with the fleet
from Beyrout to Tripoli, the British
bsttleship Victoria was rammed by tho
The Victoria was a
sing le-turreted battleship Of the first
class. The total number Of officers
and crew was 659 The Campertlown
struck the Victoria very nearly at
right angles just forward of the turrct.
Ten minutes after the collision the |
Victoria gave q tremendous reel TO
starboard and sank, bow first Al.
slough the other vessels Of the feet
rendered every assistance, 32l officers
and men were lost.
The Rsina Regente fou ndered in a
storm in March, 1895, while proceed.
ing from Spain TO Algiers. No trace
af her has ever boon discovered. This
vessel was an srmored cruiser similar
10 the Australian type Of the English
navy.
There have been several catastro-
Plies among the cruiser class, in which
here was heavy loss Of life. Among
.hese were the loss OF the Japanese
,ruiser Elebi ut sea. A French float
'ng battery, the Arogante, foundered,
md the British have lost two gun
boats, the Wasp and the Severn, at
lea.
Explosions Of both guns and boilers
nave occurred at different times on
he British ship Thunderer.
There have been several cases on
United States vessels where spon-
aneous combustion in the coal bun.
sers has ignited the magazines pro-
ected by them. Fires in the vicinities
II the magazines have occurred on the
Sew York and the Cincinnati. New
York Herald.