Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-27

FOUND IN BAD SHAPE
WATER POURED OUT OF MASSA-
CHUsETTs IN DRY DOCK.
More Than Three Hundred Tons Leak
ed in-Ship Came Near
Foundering.

The New York Sun of this morning says:
The battle ship Massachusetts,, which
struck on Egg Rock near Bar Harbor, two
weeks ago yesterday, while running
through fog to get to Oyster Bay for the
Presidents review Of the feet, was put IN
dry dock at the Brooklyn navy yard yester-
day for repairs. AS intimated in yester-
days Sun. the pattle ships injuries are
much worse than was at first reported.
Like Mcrcutio's wound. the holes in her
bottom are not as deep as a we'll nor as
wide as a church door. but they're enough
Over 800 tons of water leaked into her
lower hold and two Of her forward COM
partments Had 1t not been for the water
tight bulkheads she would have foundered
where she struck. The docking keelS
which were practically destroyed, no doubt
acted as buffers between the rock and the
plates of the ship and prevented much more
serious damage to the hull.
Damage Forward and Aft.
The ship was damaged forward and aft
and on both port and starboard sides. She
probably struck twice.
AS soon as the water was pumped out of
the dry dock and before any careful exam
nation was made, it was seen there was a
bad 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 crumpled up and
broken. The docking keel on the starboard
side was bent fiat upward against the hull
for several feet amidships The shoe plate
just forward Of the rudder post was crack
ed at right angles to the keel. The stern
casting was broken.
Propeller Blades Bent.
The ends of two of the blades of the port
propeller had been clipped off by the rock
IL L.. to InrSt
in the line plate on the port quarter about
on a 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
precaution.
Three Months for Repairs.
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 constructor
in the yard; Capt. Joseph G. Eaton, COM
mander of the Massachusetts, and Lieut..
Hayes, her navigating officer, examined the
hui! 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.
Captains Statement.
Concerning the accident itself Capt. Eaton
said: I'VE 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 1t as IAN
incident and said that the damage had
been very slight, about as serious as q
bruised shoulder which man might get
by knocking against the side of a door,"
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 a minute means
one knot an hour. The screw was making
ninety-one turns when the ship hit Egg
Rock, they say.
Sailors Call Her Hoodoo.
AS soon as It was possible to make the
transfer, POS Of the Massachusetts, crew
were sent to other ships. Her ammunition
and all the coal. except enough to steam to
New York with, was taken out of the ship
before she started on her trip down the
coast. She had coaled 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 ordi-
nary 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 be saved from a
fo'c'sle reputation of a hoodoo ship. She