Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-22
OTHER EXPLOSIONS
RECORDED IN NAVY

During the last decade there have been
at least two score serious explosions OF va
rious Kinds on board the vessels OF the
United States navy. They have included
explosions of boilers, explosions Of steam
pipes. blowing out OF cylinder heads. pre-
mature discharge of heavy guns accidental
discharge of powder. flashing OF breech
caps in the closing of the breech. and a
dozen other mishaps peculiar TO conditions
on shipboard
The greatest catastrophe-whch OF course
cannot be classed as an accident-in the
annals of the reorganlzed white squadron
was the blowing up OF the Maine in the
harbor of Havana on the night of February
10, 1898. The battleship was blown up by
Spanish mine. The blowing up Of tho
Maine did much to hasten hostllitles be-
tween the United States and Spain.
A serious accident was that which oc-
CURED on the battleship Missouri April 18.
1904 When off Pensacola. under command
OF William S. Cowles, brother-n-law OF
President Roosevelt, 1000 pounds Of powder
were accidentally ignited in the after tur-
ret sheltering a twelve-inch gun.
Five officers who were in the turret were
killed. Twentyfour enlisted men were also
killed. Among the deaths was that OF
Lieut.. John Z. V. Gridley, son of Capt
Charles Vernon Gridley. who commanded
the Olympia, agship at the battle of Ma
MIA Ddy. ne QUICK BDcuiitB OF the HldBd-
zine rooms near the turret, prevented
further fatalities.
On December Is. 1904. the Massachusetts,
lost three of her crew when a gasket blew
off a boiler and filled the fire room with
steam. This occurred when the battleship
was at the League Island navy yard.
The Massachusetts had even worse
misfortune the year preceding. When of
Culebra Island January 16. 1903, the &C
cldental discharge of "a percussion primer
while the gun breech was stlll open re-
suited in the killing of six men. This ac-
cident, like most OF those OF similar
character, occurred in one of the turrets.
The officer in charge of the gun was I'M
hurt, but the gun crew OF nine men was
blown In every direction. Only three OF
the number survived their injuries.
The Iowa when off Pensa cola, April o.
1909. suffered a serious accident. The port
twelve-inch gun in the forward turret burst.
Three sections of the gun Weighing a ton
each crashed through the messroom killing
three and inJurlng five. This accident was
caused by the explosion of a shell midway
In the gun
Twelve days later tho Iowa again met
with misfortune. One of the steam pipes
In her boiler room burst. The steering
gear was torn away, and for the time
being the battleship was helpless.
The Kearsarge. namesake OF the victor
of the Cherbourg fight OF July 10. 1864.
had not been off the stocks long before she
met with accident. or rather In the first
instance. got herself into trouble with the
Ing from a gun in her fighting top on July
"a. 1901, which clipped huge tree, and then
knocked off section of stone slab from
the Newport city hall. The responsibility
for this remarkable accident was never
clearly established.
On February 3. 1902 the Navy Depart
ment received cablegram from Rear Ad-
miral Higginson, commander of the North
Atlantic squadron, that five men had been
killed by the bursting OF gun on board
the Kearsarge. The battleship was then in
West Indian waters.
An accident occurred to the submarine
boat Fulton off Lewes, Del, April %, 1902
when she was endeayoring to make Della
ware Breakwater 1t was an accident that
is rare so far the United States naval
records go. The accumulation of gas In
the storage batteries shattered the inside
of the little craft. She was only partly sub
merged at the time. a dozen men were hurt
by flying fragments. Cool work on the part
of the crew prevented fatalities.
Another of the wasp division of the
navy, the Ericsson. met with a mishap or
New London in July, 1898 A number Of
the crew died from their injuries.
On July /. 1897. at the Brooklyn navy
yard an accident to the Puritan developed
that her boilers were untitled in every
way 1t was shown that the boilers had
been used for twenty-five years and that
their use was "a constant menace TO the
officers and crew." The slight explosion
which showed the startling state of things
caused boiler Z to completely collapse. AS
the Puritan was about to put to sea, there
was great indignation among those who
would have had to sail on the vessel.