New-York tribune., 1901-11-03
DISASTERS TO WARSHIPS
ENGLAND HAS SUFFERED MORE THAN
ANY OTHER NATION.

That war vessels not exempt from KING
Neptune's anger any more than are the rahh anu
file OF the merchant marine is proved by the iai se
number Of disasters that have overtaken them a'
comparatively short intervals. But even 1heSe
nishaps do deter naval powers from expendlhs
millions build ships. for peace must De pre-
served spite of the cost, and If peace Is brohe
then It must be restored regardless of the cost OF
personnel and expenditures of material however
frequency of disasters recently to TORPEDO poas
has caused discussion among naval experts as 'o
the advisability Of continuing to add these iiio'
quitolike boats to the fighting sQuadrons
The torpedo boat is complicated. oehsets
packed box of machinery. built as light as Posslpe
In order to obtain the highest possible speed iie
hull is of steel than quarter OF an iiei
thick. and while the frames are Sc cons'ruc'eo "s
20 make the hull fairly rigid rhe frequency Oh
accident especially IN the British navy proves t'
they have faults which have not yet been posslpe
TO avoid There is only this thin sheeuhs oA
steel between the crew and death at all uHes' tie
risks being increased by the amazing pace al WHICH
these craft their way through the water
One of tne most serious catastrophes to this class
of war weapons occurred on September lS when
the torpedo boat destroyer Cobra foundered al Sea-
and of the seventy-nine persons on board ohis
Twelve were saved The accident has been vari-
ously ascrfhed TO a collision with submerged
wreck a whale and a hidden shoal But the most
reasonable proposition is that she was douoieo up
Hike hinge by an explosion and plunged 10 the
bottom stern first The court of inQuiry's verdict
s+rnctura1ly weak" The fact remains that she
was wiped off the naval list from battle with only
an ordinary storm. Only few weeks later, on
October 10 the English torpedo boat destroyer
Vulture buckled up in heavy seas while on her way
from Portsmouth TO Portland and barely escaped
laundering She however. reached Portsmouth q
couple Of days later. when It was found that sew
eral Of her plates broken in Verdict
--Structurally weak"
britannia rules the waves" has been maxim
hallowed BY time Il not by record OF accidents; Tor
England has been less exempt from loss OF her
ships by the elements than any other nation-Very
likely in the percentage well as in the number
itself. In the eighteenth century she was espe-
cially unfortunate. In October. ne. fourteen OF
her warships Zone Of the 74-gun class two OF the
e4-gun class. Of II guns and the others ranging
from to 81 guns eech) were caught and destroyed
in a terrible tempest in the West Indies 1t was
the greatest disaster that England had ever eA-
rerienced in her naval fleets. entire feet being
struck off her naval list at lone fell swoop-
There were several vessels lost 10 the English
navy before the nineteenth century began one OF
the worst losses being that OF the os-gun 1r1sa'e
Ardent which blown up Of Corsica in April
,794 and all hands (about Ave hundred were lost
Among the most important disasters 20 the BRUSH
navy at different times since then have been the
following:
The Queen Charlotte. frigate of 10 guns; was
destroyed by fire off Leghorn on March L. lsVo anu
OF the OF $50. 673 were lost ,,os
of the coast near Yarmouth March ls 1901. and
Of the crew Of $50 more than 900 peTished: n-,s
Tecke rnS et Ro3hdem nR Read on Soveber -
gun Thf brEs T 5hat MaS wer G lost from time to m
soul being saved She foundeTed at & sea IN eT 5so b I
during the war between England and France. much
aica1 9 NaYV and were almost ali unit for
large number Of them founaebeo , IN of Iif
From their tendency to turn bottom up"arG
turtle in the marine vocabulary
The Martin seems have been an unlucky name
% guns, spectiyely-foundered: one in 1s!o an
eaTed Al The fatality which followed the 1o-gun
br3gs also seems 20 have attended the 10 aI1d 10
gun sloops. judging from the fatality list Of Eng
The 64gun frtgate Atheneum was wrecked near
Cape Bon on October 20. 1906. and ~ hVes were
and OF Rodriguez, Indian Ocean. in February 1907
Ai1T The Warfcjenue S6-gun vessel was wrecked in
an engagement with the French off Mauritius on
The 74-gun frigate Minotaur was wrecked of
the mouth Of the Texel December De p 1870 and OF
On the coast Of Jutland on December "a ISL. the
the Defence and the Hero-foundered in tenn
pest. OF the total number OF people on me three
ships (about 1.seO not twenty were saved
The frigate Ataianta was wrecked on sambro
Island on November TO- islS 1s, to,,ae,ea in bur
ricane near Mauritus February o. 1921, and not
The frigate Avenger was wrecked in the Meditsr-
ranean on December 60 I lsi, and only four OF the
The Raleigh. 5e.gun ship. was was wrecked 9S on the
Macao
one OF the most mysterious olsasters OF 9ns
British navy was the loss of the turreted fronclad
Captain She was capslzed ana foun9sTeo Ger on c@Pe APE
seventeen escaped Of nearly 500 on board
run into and sunk by the ironclad Iron Duke:
Less than wear 3fterward, on July u, 1876. one
Of The boilers Of the battleship Thunderer exploded
and about fifty were more or less injured Inc
FEBRUARY 12 ISSi when ten OF the were killed
and forty or more wounded IT., r,,.o
foundered in a gale off the Isle OF Wight, when 800
lives were lost
on March G. 1889 the ironclad Sultan was wrecked
by running ashore the Maltese group
one Of the remarkable and almost unac-
OF the battleship Victoria, which was sunk by col
lsion with the batteship Camperdown on June 2.
1898. Of the people on board there were nearly
800 lost including Admiral Tryon
There have been disasters III other navies well.
but not so large proportion as in the British navy
The United States Navy has not been exempt by
anv means but while there has been more or less
criticism Of American naval officers. and some
have suffered the penalties of the court martial.
there has been a smaller percentage OF losses than
IN the English service
What's in name?" is an old and familiar
maxim; but there s a good deal. IN the opinion
of many naval men. to encourage superstition
when one recalls the losses of of the ships
Fer instance. the people Of Boston felt honored
when one OF the first vessels be built for the
modern steel navy named the Boston but she
was not the first. The first Boston. built in that
CITY in ZIG. was 2i-gun frigate. but she
captured at Charleston. S. C, When that city sue
currlbed the British during the Revolution. Bos-
ton No. 2 was sunk in the battle on Lake Cham
plain in 1873. she being Of Arnod's hotila-
Boston No was burned in 1914 at Washington.
to prevert her falling the hands of the enemy
Boston No was lost in the West Indies in hur-
ricane In 1876. Boston No. is still afoat, but
she has met with several accidents. more less