The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-27
BAYTLESHIp in BAD SRApE.
WATER POURS OUT or MAssA-
CHUSETTS IN DRY DOCK.
vvould Have Foundered but Tor Buikheads
More Than 500 Tons ar Water Leaked
un--Men We're transferred and Prls"
oners Freed for Fear She'd Stink.


The battcship Massachusetts,, which
s+ruck on Egg Rock near Bar Harbor two
weeks ago Yesterday, while running through
fog to get to Oyster Bay for the Presi-
Asnts review Of the fleet, was put In dry
dock at the Brooklyn navy yard yesterday,
for repairs As intimated in yesterdays
suN the batteship's injuries are much
worse than was at first reported.
Like Mercutio's wound, the holes in her
bottom are not IA deep as a well nor as wide
ma church door, but they're enough Over
an tons Of water leaked into her lower
hold and two of her forward compart-
ments. Had ii not been for the water
TIGHT bulkheads she would have foundered
where she struck The docking keels,
which were practically destroyed, no doubt
noted as buffers between the rock and the
plates Of the ship and prevented much
more serious damage to the hull.
The ship was damaged forward and aft
and on both port and starboard sides.
She probably struck twice.
Az soon as the water was pumped out
OF the dry dock, and before any careful
examirat ion was made, it was seen there
was a bed hole on each side of the keel
about thirty feet from the stern. The
two steel plates of the docking keel on the
port side were ripped apart for half the
length of the ship and the plates were
cnlmplrd up and broken. The docking
keel on the starboard side was bent fiat
upward aga At the hull for several feet
amidshpS The shoe plate just forward
oi the rlddor post was cracked at right
angles to the keel The stern casting was
broken,
The ends of two of the blades OF the port
propeller had been clipped of by the rock
md the blades badly bent There is a dent
in the line plate on the port quarter about
on level with the rolling chock, and the
ships keel is bent up in several places so
much that it does not rest on the blocks
in the dry dock.
The Massachusetts, went into dry dock
about 10 o'clock and it was o'clock be-
fore all the water had been pumped out.
As soon as the pressure Of the water in the
dock was removed the water in the lower
hold and in two of the forward compart-
ments began to pour through the two
cracks near the keel, in spite of the wedges
that had been driven in by the divers as
a precaltion.
The unofficial opinion Of several naval
officers who saw her in dry dock yesterday
was that the Massachusetts will have to
go out of commission and that it will take
two or three months to put her into shape
again.
Commander Capps, the Naval Construc-
tor in the yard; Capt. Joseph G. Eaton,
commander of the Massachusetts, and Lieut.
Hayes, her navigating officer, examined
the hull of the ship when enough of the
water had been drawn out Of the dock
to allow the cracks and dents TO appear.
Neither the Naval Constructor nor Capt.
Eaton would express an opinion as to the
extent of the damage or as to the likelihood
that the Massachusetts, would have to go
out of commission.
Concerning the accident itself Capt Eaton
said:
we were doing the best we could"
He said that he didn't know at what rate
OF speed the ship was going when she struck.
The day after the ship struck the rock
Capt Eaton referred to it as AN incident"
ard said that the damage had been very
slight, "about as serious as a bruised
shoulder which man might get by knock
ing against the side of door"
Lieut.. Hayes, who was navigating officer
of the Massachusetts when she struck
used a different smile Yesterday
THE damage is not serious Mt all, said
Lieut.. Hayes. SITS just about the same
as if you dropped an old tin kettle in the
is no reason why the Massachusetts should
80 out of commission All necessary re-
pairs can be made in a very few days and
then the ship will be fit to go to any part Of
the world
Lieut. Hayes thought the Massachusetts
was making about ten knots an hour when
she struck in the fog.
That was the speed ordered by the
Admiral anyhow" he said, "and we were
trying to obey orders
According TO some of the men of the en-
cheering force, the ship was making some
thing over eleven knots when she struck
Eight turns Of the screw to minute means
one knot an hour, The screw was making
nincty-one turns when the ship hit Egg
Rock. they say.
The shoulder bruising incident wasn't
any laughing matter to the officers and men
aboard ship when it happened. According
to many Of those who we're aboard the ship
didn't merely scrape the rock. She struck
twice. and there was very perceptible hit
to starboard. All preparations were made
for Immediately abandoning ship. One
incident was the hustling on deck of one
man who had been confined In the brig and
four more who were in double chains in
the orlop deck. These offenders were
Immediately set at liberty.
why said a sailor yesterday, "the
master-at-arms was 50 nervous that it took
him almost twenty minutes to unlock the
irons on those four men"
As soon as it was possible TO make the
transfer, 205 Of the Massachusetts crew
were sent 10 other ships. Her ammunition
and all the coal, except enough to steam to
New York with, was taken out OF the ship
before ST." started on her trip down the coast
Sh" had coaed on Sunday, three days before
the accident.
The Massachusetts has been In commits
sion since 1896, except for one month, three
years ago, when she was laid up in ordinary
at Philadelphia. She has had more than
her share of big and little mishaps In that
time, according to the sailors, who think
that the Massachusetts should now go out
OF commission and he saved from fo'c'sle
reputation of hoodoo ship. She has been
aground SIX times in three years.
Mos Of the crew We're put TO work yester-
day on floats alongside the ship scraping
on the grass and the barnacles as the water
receded, The drydock pumps worked
slowly and the men had plenty of time
TO skyIark while waiting for another strip
OF exposed surface TO scrape. They
amused themselves by throwing each other
into the water, humping their RATS together
and having fencing matches with their
long-handled scr,lbbing brushes. As this
didn't interfere with the work they were
mot ltrr1n, -.,ls D. 4