Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-27
UNPOPULAR SHIPS.
Hard to Find Crews for Vessels Of
Bad Luck.

From Answers.
The disastrous explosion in submarine
Al may make it difficult to find crews to
man her in the future. She, is the same
! vessel which earlier in her career sank
with all on board.
Both in our navy and in our merchant
service there are ships which have be.
come unpopular because of the ill luc
| which seems to dog them.
There was the destroyer Thrasher
After one or two small accidents she rar
slap into the cruiser .Phaeton of Ply.
mouth Having been repaired. she put tic
sea, but had got no further than the
| Lizard before an explosion on board sen,
her home again with three poor fellows
stiff and stark. Later on she ran ashore
| Then there was the Lynx. also a de.
| stroyer. On her trial trip she ran into q
| merchant vessel called the Lizard and
| sank her, being badly damaged herself
Next a boiler tube burst. and lastly, she
drove ashore on the Lizard
| Lizard is an fil-omened name for a Brit
ish Ship We have. lost no fewer thar
three units Of our navy which bore thi:
name. All ships named. after reptile:
seem to share the same Ill fortune W.
| have lost four Vipers, four Serpents, tive
Snakes, two Dragons, one Adder. Ont
Alligator, one. Basilisk, one Crocodile ant
one Cobra.
| Quite, recently CHASTITY explosion oc
CURED aboard the French training shiI
La CourOnne. A gun burst, killing foul
men and wounding twenty others. This
was the third accident which had. oc
Cured in this ship within four years. TIL,
first was April 20. 1906, the second Au
gust 3, 1907. In each case 1t was a g.:
gun which burst: In each premature ex
Iplosion Of a cartridge was the cause. ant
in each at least three men were killed.
The Texas is the hoOdoo of the Ameri
can navy. Within five years she expert
enced eight accidents. Twice she broke
down, twice she went ashore. She had &
series of explosions in her stokehold. ant
finally when at firing practice both he1
twelve-inch guns were fired stimuli
taneously and in double discharge cause,
the guns to break from their foundations
and the decks to be shattered in an ainaz
ing fashion, several men being badl!
hurt.
Another unlucky unit of the United
States Navy is the Connecticut. Whiis
she was on the stocks All attempt wal
made to cripple her by boring holes IL
her Sides At her launching the bottle o
During her trials serious defects de
Iveloped in her machinery. Then aftel
several small accidens she ran on a rec
and grounded of Culehra Island.
Almost a record In Ill luck was held b!
the steamer Daphne OF Glasgow. Whei
Launched on the Clyde she turned turtle
drowning 200 men. She was raised an.
repaired. and on her maiden voyaR,
went ashore near Belfast. She was 60
ioff and her owners changed her name I,
Rose. The change was useless. She foun
dered in Belfast Tough and soon after
ward was broken UP and sold for oil,
iron.
The annals of the sea would hardl,
furnish a parallel to the amazing run o
In luck suffered by the German bari
Planet. Chartered to carry a cargo from
Mazatlan, Mexico. to Plymouth, she wa
blown ashore by a hurricane and he
lcargo had to be discharged. and restowed
At last she started. but had not gone IA
before scurvy struck down officers an,
crew. She was sighted by LtondoI
steamer. which lent her q navigating ON
tcer, and her own captain and both mats
died soon afterward. Eventually sh
Preached Queenstown. where a new cap
tain took charge He received order
: from two different agents to take tn
vessel to Liverpool and Havre. respec
itively. While he hesftated two firms sc
up claims to her cargo and the Plane
was attached. Later she was further ar
rested for salvage at the suit Of the own
lers OF the London steamer. 1t wa
months before the various claims wer
= settled. - = T- = e*4.