Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-16
AMMUNITION EXPLODES
ON BATTLESHIP
THREE OF INJURED ARE IN VERY
CRITICAL CONDITION
Lieutenant and Sailor Jump Into Sea
with Intention of Drowning and
Ending Terrible Suf-
ferings
BY Associated Press.

BOSTON, July 15-With eight OF her
officers and crew dead and thirteen 9TH
ers either dying or suffering from terri
BILE burns received in an explosion OF
powder in the after superimposed tur-
ret, the battleship Georgia steamed
slowly up Boston harbor from the target
practice grounds in Cape Cod bay late
tonight and landed the dead and injured
men at Charlestown navy yard.
With the arrival of the Georgia there
became known the details of the most
terrible naval accident that has ever
taken place along the coast of New
England.
The accident occurred shortly before
noon today while the Georgia's crew
were at target practice off Barnstable,
in Cape Cod bay.
In some manner, as yet unexplained,
two bags of powder became ignited and
in the terrible flash that followed the
entire turret crew, consisting of three
officers and eighteen men, were engulfed
in fire and received horrible burns, one
officer and five men dying before the
ship reached port.
The victims of the accident are:
Dead:
GOLDTHWAITE, FAULKNER, mid
shipman, Kentucky.
THACKER, w. j.. turret captain, Will
mington, Del.
BURKE, w, j., seaman. Quincy. Mass.
HAMlLION, aGBORGE H., ordinary
seaman, South Framingham, Mass.
MILLER, GEORGE E., ordinary sea-
man, Brooklyn, N. Y.
THOMAS, WILLIAM M, seaman,
Newport, r. 1.
PAIR, WILLIAM, Brooklyn.
GOODRICH. LIEUT.. CASPER, Brook
lyn, N. Y; burned fatally.
Seriously injured:
Cruise, James t. midshipman, Ne
braska; hands and face burned, very Sc
riousIy.
Schlapp. Frank, boatswain's mate,
second class, North Adams, Mass; back.
chest, arms and face burned.
Hanfell, Charles. gunner's mate, first
class New York; face and hands
burned.
Taglund, Orley, chief yeoman, Rich
ford, Mimi; arms. back and face burned
Walsh, Ed. j., seaman, Lynn, Mass;
chest and face burned fatally.
Bush, John A., ordinary seaman, New
York; face, arms and chest burned; pos
sibly fatal.
Eich. Charles L., ordinary seaman,
Frankfort. Ind. face, arms and hands
burned.
Fone. John A.. ordinary seaman, South
wick, Mass; two-thirds of body burned.
Gilbert. Harold L.. ordinary seaman.
Southwick, Mass; two-thirds of body
burned.
Maleck, John c.. ordinary seaman,
Cleveland, Ohio; arms and face burned
Meese, Louis o., ordinary seaman, Be
rea, Ohio; arms, face and chest burned
Rosenberger, Samuel L., ordinary sea-
man, arms and face burned.
Thomas, James P, ordinary seaman
Brooklyn. N. Y; face and arms, chest and
back burned.
Other men received minor injuries.
Their names were not given out and they
were not taken off the ship.
The explosion occurred after the super
imposed turret where the men under
command of Lieut.. Casper Goodrich. son
of Rear Admiral Goodrich commandant
of the New York navy yard, and Midship-
men Faulkner Goldthwaite and James T.
Cruise were operating the S-inch guns
Ammunition ExpIodes
The guns in the forward turrets had
finished eight rounds of practice and the
guns of the after turret had fired one
round.
Two cases, as the big 100 pounds of
powder are called, had just been sent up
through the ammunition hoists and were
in the arms of the loader, whose name
was withheld by the ships officers
The loader stood at the breech of one of
the S-inch guns, ready to insert the
charge.
AT this instant the turret was seen to
be smoking and two men who stood near
indicating that the charge had ignited
and was smoldering.
The loader discovered the spot at the
same instant and threw himself forward
on his face at the same time shouting a
warning to his turret mates.
The other men who had seen the smoke
were Eich and Hansell. and they also
threw themselves on the floor of the tur-
ret.
Before the other men in the turret
could understand what caused the load
er's cry of warning there was a binding
flash as the burning powder exploded.
Flames, smoke and nauseous gases filed
the little superstructure, where more
than dozen men were confined.
AS the powder was not confined there
was no report, nor did the vessel suffer
any injury, but every nook and corner
of the turret was filed with flames.
Loader Badly Burned
The loader. who was of course nearest
the powder, was terribly burned, as was
every other man in the turret, with the
exception of Eich and Hansell, who, all
though scorched, escaped with injuries
much less severe than the others.
Blinded by the smoke and flames,
choked by the acrid, penetrating, gaseous
fumes, and maddened by the pain, the
men screamed in agony.
Some staggered blindly about the lad
der to the hatchway in the top of the
turret, while others crept along the tur-
ret floor, begging piteously for assistance.
Lieutenant Goodrich and Seaman MaleS
became crazed staggered up the iron lad
der to the top of the turret. and threw
themselves headlong into the sea. in
despairing effort to choose death by
drowning in preference to the death by
slow fire.
When the smoke of the burning powder
had cleared away the shipmates of the
unfortunate men rushed to their assist
ance, and tenderly the suffering sailors
were lifted out of the fire blackened tur-
ret and quickly conveyed to the ships
hospital where their burns were dressed
by the surgeon
In the meantime Lieutenant Goodrich
and Seaman MalelS had been rescued by