Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1909-1915, 1911-09-29
French Battleship liberte Blew Up
=:.=..s.: With Terrible Loss !. !.
's=- ...... d Of Life '.>,.~ -. ~. /
GREW Il PANIC , mi STRICKEN i {:
Failure to Float Magazine When Small
Blaze Starts Is Cause Of :s'. J. :.
Disaster .

awful loss OF lie, occurred at QayugnC
Monday morning when the great
French battleship Liberte blew up in
the harbor.' The death loss Is various
ly estimated from $50 to 500 or more.
The killed included officers and men of
the. iberte and also large number Of
those from nearby >Warshtps. - Il Il
The first alarm Of fire was sounded
shortly after s o'clock in the morning.
This was followed by four successive
explosions Of increasing intensity as
the fire neared the powder magazines,
when at 5:35 O'clock a deafening ex-
plosion literally, tore the great warship
to pieces and sent her to the bottom
mass of twisted wreckage The force
Of the expl ,sion was 50 great that huge
fissures. were opened in the steel ar
NOR andeframeWork Of the warship. AZ
piece Of afno, plate was hurled against
the cruiser Republique with great force.
damaging her plates. Scores Of bodies
were hurled high into the air, with
huge fragments of the framework, ar
NOR, bursting shells and the suffocat-
ing smoke from. the exploded maya
zine. - ssA.s
!, On the first explosion the men rush
ed from their headquarters and hun
dred or more sought safety in plunging
overheard. But the great body of men
officers and crew remained on the ship
and wele hurled high in the air or in
to the water as the eliminating explos-
ions tore The ship into fragments. :,
s.s One report says the slip broke in
1 two in the middle as she sank An
other dramatic detail occurred before
she took her final plunge, when sew
eral Of her guns discharged the re-
QUEEN salute. G.s G.$1 Z: 80,
The fire was discovered q: o'clock.
At first 1t did not appear 10 be seri-
GUS hu, somehow Or other 1t gained a
,iuiak advantage ovel the squad of sail
O1o sGVI W OAtiAt- Mts1t ~. letAu SuuuSu1y
without warning 8. reached the maya
zine which had not been flooded on ac-
count of the apparent;. tritiing nature
Of ::e blaze. J.. :3: Ne: s.
, The force of the explosions was ter
rife. They shook the vessel fore and
aft, each one seemingly stronger than
the one proceeding, opening up great
assures in the armor and framework
Of the vessel n Y y 5ss sE > 22 81 "
The vessel Immediately became a
mass OF fire and smoke and soon, Al:
most demolished by the terrific deto-
nations, sank to the bottom Of Toulon
harbor. a.$; ;:$ t5 IA 8 Il
AT an early hour the unofficial esti.
mate Of the number Of dead ran as
high as 500. Estimates by naval men
varied widely, but all agreed there was
no doubt that; the loss Of life was more
!. than 800. :s.3 Nh y \.
Scores Of seamen died in their hunks
!: A few saved themselves by jumping
overheard. Many of those injured
Ieaped into the water and were drown
ed before boats from the other ships
ins the roadstead could reach them.
!: Two hundred Of the crew escaped
death owing to the fact that they were
ashore on leave The carnage II thu
explosions was worse than could eve
4 have occurred il an actual naval en-
gagements The first crash came WIe1
3 the crew was for the most part dispos
4 ed In the various sections Of the yes
sci They were without warning q
their dame Scores of bodies Aers
hurled high into the air, accomp panied
By great fragments Of the framework
J: armour, bursting shell and blindinl
5sss ,ffocat ling s,aoks
Others awakened bg the expl osion
5 5s started 20 jump overboard ana wer,