The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-04-15
EXPLOSION ON board THE
BATTLESHIP KEARSARGE
Lieutenant Hudgins and Five Men Are
Killed---Lieutenant Graeme In a
Critical Condition.

victims and writing kilograms acquaint-
could be done IN Washington until fur
ther details were received from Admiral
Evans,
Loss of Life Small.
The first feeling of the officers at the
navy department after reading the cable
gram was one OF surprise that the &C
eident had resulted in go little loss OF
life The Kearsarges forward turreJ.
where it occurred, is OF the superposed
type; In other words, S-inch gun tur-
ret sat on the top OF the I3-inch gun
the lower turret were twenty-four men
and in the upper -turret sixteen. An am
munition hoist connected the two. and
had the powder in the lower hoist ex-
ploded probably every. man IN The two
turrets would have been killed. -he full
charge Of powder for a 13-inch gun is too
large to be handled by any one man,
so IL is divided into sections in canvas
bags, and it was three of these, probably
just enough to fill one compartment in
ammunition hoist, which Ignited. AS the
cablegram states, the cause of the iG-
lief at the navy department is that IN
cleaning up the turret and throwing open
the breech OF the big gun after the last
round had been fired some small bit of
smOldering canvas bagging was blown out
of one of the guns, as the big breech
block was swung around only to fall
upon the ammunition hoist where the
surplus powder was being returned TO
the magazines below. Had the remain
have been repetition of the Missouri
disaster, when twenty-six men were
killed in the turret and in the maya
zines below. 1t may be noted, however,
that the cause of the accident in the
case OF the Missouri was entirely diff
ferent from that in the case of the
block was swung open before the burn
ing powder had escaped, resulting in the
ignition OF the powder in the turret. The
ordnance officers were quick TO guard
against q repetition of an accident of
that kind by fitting out the big turret
guns in the battleships With automatic
spraying devices and air blasts which
made it impossible to have a"flare-back-"
Graene on Extra Duty.
Lieutenant Graeme, who was men
toned being in a very critical state
at the time the cablegram was sent, did
not belong to the company of the Kear-
sarge. He was attached TO the Mary
land and was aboard the Kearsarge in
the capacity of an umpire to check off
ners: very necessary function in view
of the keen spirit of rivalry obtaining
between the crews of the big battleships
in the matter of efficiency at target
practice.
Navel regulations prescribe exactly
what is to be done in a case of this kind.
The admiral in command orders immedi-
ately a court of inquiry to ascertain the
cause of the accident and place the re-
sponsibflity therefor and a court-martial
will follow if anyone is found at fault.
The Kearsarge. while not one of the
ldteSl. Is reSdTe0 as one OF the best bat
tleships in the American fleet. She is
commanded by Captain Winslow. is of
l1.520 tons displacement is 375 feet in
length. y feet in breadth and 231z feet in
draught. with speed record of 1852
knots and battery of twenty-five guns
four inches and more in calibre and
was launched in 1898 and commissioned in
The Dead Officers.
Lieutenant John NJ Hudgins. the only
officer who lost his life by the explosion
on the kearsarge, was a native of Vir-
GINA and was appointed to the naval
academy from that state Sept 6. 1890 He
was assigned to the engineer corps upon
leaving the academy in 1894 because of
his particular aptitude for engineering
ana his mechanical skill. He aook an
especial interest in the subject of wireless
telegraphy and became expert in that
line He was personally identified with
development of the wireless system as
now IN use by the navy, having been at
tached to the bureau OF equipment dur
ing the experiments and Inauguration of
the system After a short service i'm 1895
he was sent to London for a special
course of instruction. and while in that
city vas attached TO the American en-
lively on the New Orleans. Glacier, Man
liza and Paret and in October 1903. began
his service on the kearsarge- He reached
the grade of lieutenant in September.
1901. Lieutenant Hudgins' widow resides
az her parents, home in this city.
the naval academy from P ennsvITanis
on Sept. g. 1903 He served at the Wash
ington navy yard from Nov. 10. 1902. until
April II. 1905, when he was assigned to
the cruiser Maryland. He is a son of
Thomas Graeme of Wilkesbarre. Pa. He
is married ana mis- wife. according to the
departments information, is with his
father.
Messages Sent to the Next Kin.
Following is a copy OF the teIegraphic
message sent to next OF kin of each Of
the victims OF the disaster:
1.-The department regrets to inform you
that -- - died from results of in
juries caused by an explosion of powder
on the L. S. $. Kearsarge on the after
noon Of April 18th. His body has been
buried at Guantanamo. You have the
sincere sympathy of the department