Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1904-04-16
TERRIFIC EXPLOSIONS
On Battleship Missouri XIII Twenty
Men and Five Officers.

"eH anu rive OWlCerS.
Pensacola, Fla,-By the explosion Of
1000 pounds Of powder April 13, in the
after 12-inch turret and the landing
room Of the battleship Missouri, Capt.
William s. Cowles commanding, 20
men were Instant killed and five In
jured, Of which two will die.
The Missouri was on the target range
with the Texas and Brooklyn at prac-
tice, about noon, when charge Of
powder in the Pinch left-hand gun,
ignited from gases, exploded, and,
dropping below, ignited four charges
of powder in the handling room and
all exploded
Only one man of the entire turret
and handling crew survives.
But for the prompt and efficient
work of Capt. Cuwico in flooding tho
handling room and magazine with wa
ter, one of the magazines would have
exploded and the ship would have
been destroyed.
Capt. Cowles, completely overcome
by the disaster, referred all newspa-
per men to Lieut.. Hammer, the ord
nance officer. The latter gave out a
statement of the explosion and it's
probable cause.
According to him, about noon, after
the first pointer of the latter 12-inch
piece had fired his string and the Sec
ond pointer had fred the third shot
Of his string, the charge ignited.
The fourth shot was being loaded,
and, from all indications, the first half
of the charge had been rammed home,
and the second section was being
rammed home, when gases from the
shot previously fired, or portions of
the cloth cover, ignited the powder.
The breech was open and a dull thud
gave notice of something unusual. No
loud report was made, but flames were
seen to leap from every portion of the
turret.
A few seconds later, another explo-
sion, somewhat more fierce, occurred.
This was in the handling room below,
where 1900 pounds of powder, or four
charges ready to be hoisted above, had
ignited.
Capt. Cowles gave his commands, and
fire quarters were sounded, and every
man of the ship responded, and the
magazine and the handling-room were
flooded with water. In less than five
seconds after the first explosion two
streams of water were being played in
the rooms, and when the volunteers
were called for every man Of the ship
responded, eager to go into the turrets
and rescue the crew. But for his pres
ence of mind and that of the officers
of the ship the Missouri would have
gone down.
The second explosion occurred near
one of the magazines, and so hot was
the fire that the brass work of the
the fumes of the burned powder made
it almost impossible to enter either tho
turret or handling-room, but officers
and men, with handkerchiefs over their
faces, made efforts to rescue the men
inside.
Leading the rescuing party was Capt.
keep him from going below, as men fell
unconscious as they entered and had
to be pulled out by their comrades; but
unheeding their advice, the command
ing officer rushed below, followed by
Lieut.. Hammer, the ordnance officer,
and Lieut.. Cleland Davis.
Capt. Cowles caught up dying blue
jacket in his arms and staggered to
the deck with him. The bluejacket,
with two others from the handling
room, had crawled partly from their
place Of duty when they had been ov-
ercome. Before the fumes of the burn
ing powder had left the turret, off,
GERS and men were lifting out the dy-
ing and dead men.
Three minutes after the explosion all
were on deck and the surgeons from
the Missouri Texas and Brooklyn were
attending to those not dead.
The 25 men of the turret were found
lying in heap. They had started for
the exit when the first explosion oc-
Cured and had just reached there
when the more terrible explosion in
the handling-room occurred, which
burned and strangled them to death.
Lieut.. Davidson, the officer in charge
Of the turret, evidently had given some
command to the men, as he was on
top of the heap of men, having fallen
there after he had allowed them to
pass him to get out Of the turret.
The bodies were hardly recognza-
BILE, the terrible and quick fire having
burned clothing from the bodies of the
men, and the flesh hung from them in
,hreds. The faces were nrntilated by
.he smoke and flames. Only one man
was breathing when the turret crew
was rescued, and he died moment az
ter he reached the deck.