The Penn's Grove record., 1906-01-26
BATTLESHIP BLOWS UP
Brazilian lroncIad Aquidaban Sinks
and 2i2 Men Perish.
ExPLODES LIKE THE MAINE
Tragedy Occurred Near Port Jacarepa-
Four Admirals Observation-Disclosures
Sailors Wounded and 9S Rescued-ves-
sci Went Down I'm Three Minutes.

Rio Janeiro, Brazil.-Within. three
minutes after an explosion in the pow
Ger magazine of the Brazilian turret
ship Aquidaban, the ship with almost
all of its crew and officers sank DUR
ing the night at Port J%acarepagua,
south of this city. The ship, which
was n of the best fighting vessels
in the Brazilian Navy, was being used
for the accommodation of ..,er-
airy officers and men attached to the
fotilla escorting the cruiser Earroso,
having on board the Minister of Marine
and his chief of staff, who were in
specting the sites proposed for a new
arsenal.
Most of those on the ship were asleep
when the explosion occurred. The big
war vessel seemed to fall apart, and
before any n could tell just what had
happened the vessel sank. There had
been no time to lower a boat, and
those who were saved were picked up
by boats sent out by the other vessels.
Four Observation-Disclosures, Da
Graca, CandidO-Braz and De Larrigo
and 212 men lost their lives when
the ship sank. Some were hurled out
of their hunks by the explosion and
many of them were killed outright. The
others were drowned in their cabins.
N~inety-eight of those aboard were
saved. There will be a national funeral
for the victims.
Just how the explosion occurred in
the powder magazine has not been de-
termined and probably never will be.
The entire sea tragedy happened SO
quickly that none of the survivors had
time to note anything. Those ON the
other vessels lying in the harbor, sim
ply know that a moment before the
explosion they saw the outline of the
Aquidaban and that everything aboard
seemed to be all right. Then came a
loud report, part of the vessel seemed
to be torn from the other part, and
three minutes later she sank beneath
the waves. There was not an cutlery
from those on board the ship, and out
side of the loud report and the disap-
pearance of the ship there was nothing
to show the terrible tragedy that had
been enacted.
The loss of the A%quidaban is a seri-
GUS blow to the Brazilian Navy. The
vessel took a prominent part in the rev
olution of 1894, having been the
flagship of Admiral Custodio Jose de
Mello, who for a time was Minister of
Marine, and who secretly seized the
Brazilian warships in the harbor of
Rio Janeiro and declared against Presi-
dent Peixoto. Many of the harbor
forts yielded to Mello when he arrived
with his squadron, and for about six
months after he began the instruction
he kept up an intermittent lombard
ment of the forts that remained loyal
to the President.
President Peixoto ordered a Govern
ment fleet which had been cruising in
American waters to assemble and give
fight to the insurgent ships, and when
the loyal feet arrived several Of the
insurgent vessels surrendered. Mello.
however, retained the Aquidaban and
several other ships, and he attacked the
Government feet, but was repulsed.
The Aquidaban was torpedoed several
days after the repulse, but was subse-
quently raised and rebuilt. She was of
1850 tons displacement and 5000 horse
power. She was built in England in
1885, and cost 81, ,O00. Her arma-
ment consisted of four 9.4-inch Canet
guns, four 5.5-inch guns and several
smaller guns. She also had five tor
pedo tubes, and had a speed of fifteen
knots.