The sun., 1910-07-23
The FORT MONROE FATALITY
CiI ~ OF THE ENPIOSIO\ THiT
kIIIFD FITIEN WV.
ENp~rtS NIirIhuIr o. To the sudden PulIinS
"T the Ian, ard BEFORE the brrrrh
HIock Nas I.srk -d Hnsi 'W Failure of
the safety DeNIrr Ia Nork Properly.

NV ~affNN "" "N'N
W,SuI>uroN. July p The accident a,
Port Monrp. Virginia. Yesterday. which
r,sult,d ~ the death Of eleven men, wa
iIs. ~ ia" opinion of army pr,inan," ~
ports tothr aC,'idcuti pulhng ~ ~" tr.ng
Ian ydri at the - inch disappearing gun
h.for,. 'h,. br.,'ch blb~k WAS locked and
- ih.' faiurn uf the guns safety device
~ function properly The Mar Depart
mrnt g8y,' o9t statement this at'"ruo"u
giving this a. IN" probable explanation
nf the aCctdent The Department : state
mant shows that following IA" aC"Id"n'
I test was made of the other guns at III"
fort and that one s,miAr - the fatal gun
nm Battery DeRuszy was found who's"
! safety dsVics iaisd To work properly
3 The explosion took place after the gun
had started on IT. upward Cour~" Ih"
hrrech block had been showed home. hH'
had not been locked The pr mer was IN
lts place, and one ~ the enlisted men who
Vas KILLED was attempting 80 hook IN"
hring lanyard 10 the primer He had
made several unsuccessful attempts. hut
/ finally suCC.saied when IN" gun had got
! about SiN feet from iis depressed position.
| II was then that the explosion occurred
driving the unlocked hrrech block ont of
7 the gun
The general belief among army experts
J - that the enlisted man accidentally gave
the lanyard a sudden pull which ignitet
IN. primer and rat oh the powder charge
n the gun had been IN perfect working
order. however. the premature explosion
would have been prevented. a. ther" was
the customary safety device attached to
! this disappearing gun which is designed
to prevent it's discharge before the gun has
gained its position above IN" parapet.
! Here - the explanation gwen ont by the
War Department
As the men who were directly con
cernet " lth the handling of the firing mech
anism we're all kill~d II ~ only possible
to arrive AZ a conclusion as to IN" cause
of the accid mt hy inference from what
could have h o. ened. coupled with such
evidence = ,an he obtained from on
lockers at a little distance fT IN the gun
An :. mination Of other guns Of the
same class a Fort NICnroe, made after
the accidsnt disclosed the fact that there
was one gun which could he fired before
the lock ing Of the breech block by a SUN
Cisntly sudden an powerful pull IN the
proper direction upon IN. LANYARD The
firing mechanism ~ somewhat delicate
because Of IN. lack of sufficient space Tor
the utilization Of larger and more robust
part.. hut II was supposed to he sufficient
To withstand all reasonable usage
The operations of loading and firing
are conducted with -Strem" rapIdltN IN
the praissw orthy eiort ~ make good
time record. and u - a necessary conse-
uusnce that the motions are made with
great force and violence In this case
Il appears that the command Ia trip the
pawls was given and the gun started 10
rise to the firing position before the hre"'h-
lock was pushei home preparatory 20
rotating and locking It and before the
| LANYARD was hook 81. ~ that the man
whose duty u was 20 hook on the lanyard
had to do t while the gun was IN motion
Testimony ~ To the shect that he had
some diftiC,iliy IN hook ing, MAX ing several
passes IN his attempt 20 do 80 and that he
finally -uCCeetsi IN getting u hook 81
just the un was passing out oi nus
reach. when the explosion unrneiiatelY
took place II ~ presumed that he m
advertently chung 10 the lanyard and gave
I the sudden pull. which IN the case ot the
neighboring gun with which II vas tri"d
proved to be sufficient to defeat the safety
b object of the mechanism
This particular model ~ iirnR m"Chan-
iSm has h+rn used for several years IN
drill and AZ target praItIc n has been
operated thousands Of times ard by
. hurdr, Ot men under IN" suI~rNlsIon
failure have been reported A. drlli the
prlu"r only IA ,i=@d without powder CharR"
, 80 that premature. diSchRrg' would mean
only the harmless "NplO-Ion Of IN" primer
II would. however. H. the duty 81 IN" ON
Ger m charge tu report such AL OCC'Irr"rC"
a. his own safety and thar II IN" m"p
under his immediate command would
b.' involved II ~ entirely ptohabL. that
no lu-tanC. - failure has been allowed 10
"-oaI@.
/ a. ....,,. bLaIv ,ha, c,ptint l..d us., Al nd
, Cl-auITR - ih'. mechanism has -n worn
and rounded s"n" 10 IT." part. a. tu per
. init - failure under the violent pun which
was probably given u All the m"chan-
lsm- ~-r. test-d for safety shortly H..
for. the firing commenced and all were
apparently IN fprup-r condition. u ~
pruhabl.- that ia tr-tipg the pfi''.r- -Ib-
IeCtsd them only To- stresses which they
COu-Id"r'.d such a. they would - r-P
-ouahly likely To- meet but whl'h were ---
than The violent pull which u II supposed
ca l-s.d ih" ac'Iden' and - which ~ au
effort q" reproduce ~. tn" rn-Chaui-tnS
II the other guns w-r. Aft.rvard SUIT
l..ttsd ~ Cpur-.' ~ - 'uurrIV I'p-SIb bl"
To 80 chang" tn" me- -yhani-fI- a. 10 prevent
th. particular aCCId-uf winch occurred
IN" MAr Department pay- a irihui"
." ~" q -ciphn" and bravery ~ IA" men
~ th. fort " -ay- "a th" statement
That th. discipline aud inura" ui the
ufc-r- ard men uf ~" Rarrisun were
~ high I,pln' - shown hv th- Corlu"--
aud DEVOTION with which tup... abl-. 80
move immediately -.t About .NtIngu'-h-
Irg burning pp~d"r grams and removing
portions - the newt succeeding poWd"
! charg" ~ DANCE ~ ignition and plSu
caring for those who had ls.eu iOO lady
iniur,d tp take any part IN ihis work
l h- fn-tAr,'' pf ~" young officer ~hp-''
l.g had teen broken apparently by ~"
projection against ~ of th" hUdy pf On"
81 the men who were killed ~ directing
Z that attention should fret "" gwen -
! others mor.. m need of u thar himself,
- -ignticant II M" zpirli "f ia" "n'ir'
| gun ds'a"hm"n'
! Iaaut -Ipl char, uc'. = IDwuSl-v ,ptn
| manding uffic"r - Fort Mnnra-. -"ni a
I com pl.t.. report Il th" ACCIDENT 10 th"
| p,.ua rtn-nt -daN ~ his report hr also
I mentions N" bravery ~ hi- men Herr
I - hI- d.-pafrh
I.r. Nj ruF fIl, -
/ T.. va .u'I.I .',.H,.ut ~. -. p0 ''a,r'
w. 3D.. J'Dr
/ R-fsr-n,. 20 a',tdan' H' .trg"r u.p,t.,"
! 'uIlOWtuG 'HrfI-f Ittfr, llIf- H'r r~I'u'iad
/ =, rfd.nf due 80 pr'mafvr" di-' tHTg- ~
/ gun Nu o. Batter. ~. ,--. rr..'., b blo'n
hlpsn q" i-si uI-,hsis" u.."rfIug before