The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-04-22
UNPOPULAR SHIPS
VERY HARD TO MAN

The disastrous explosion in subma rine
Al may make IL difficult TO find crews TO
man her in the future. says Answers. 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 arc, ships which have be-
come unpopular because of the Ill luck
which seems TO dog them.
There was the destroyer Thrasher.
After one or two small accidents size ran
slap into the cruiser Phaeton. off Plym-
sea. but had got no further than the
Lizard before an explosion on board sent
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 a
merchant vessel called the Lizard and
Next d boiler tube burst. and. lastly, she
drove ashore on the Lizard.
Lizard is all ill-omencd name for a
British ship. We have had no fewer
than three units of our navy which bore
this name. All ships named after rep
tiles seem TO share the same III fortune
We have lost four Vipers, four Serpents.
two Snakes TWO Dragons. one Adder. one
Alligator one Basilisk, one Crocodile and
one Cobra.
Quite recently ghastly explosion oc
CURED aboard the French training aiming ship
men and wounding twenty others. This
was the third accident which had oc-
CURED in this ship within four years.
ond on August 3. 1907 In each case It
was 6.5 gun which burst: In each pre-
mature explosion Of "a cartridge was the
cause and in each at least three men
were killed.
The Texas is the hoodoo of the Amer
lean 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. and
finally when at firing practice both her
12-lnch guns were fired simultaneously.
and the double discharge caused the guns
to break from their foundations and the
fashion. several men being badly hurt.
Another unlucky unit OF the United
she was on the stocks an attempt was
made TO cripple her by boring holes in
her sides. At her launching the bottle OF
champagne failed to break ON her bows,
oped In her machinery, Then after sew.
eral small accidents she ran on reef
and grounded off Culebra island.
Almost a record in Ill luck was held by
the steamer Daphne. OF Glasgow. When
launched on the Clyde she turned turtle
drowning 200 men. She was raised ans
repaired and on her maiden voyage wen
ashore near Belfast. She was gotten off
and her owners changed her name
Rose The change was useless. She fouu-
dered in Belfast Lough and soon after
ward was broken up and sold for oil
iron.
nish n parallel to the amazing run oE y
The annals of the sea would hardly fnr-
nish a parallel TO the amazing run OF Ill
luck suffered by the German bark Planet.
Chartered to carry a cargo from Mazat-
lam Mex, to Plymouth she was blown
ashore ny hurricane and her cargo had
to be discharged and restoWed. Az last
she started, but had not gone far before
scurvy struck down officers and crew.
She was sighted by a London steamer
who lent her a navigating officer, and her
own captain and both mates died soon
afterwards Eventually she reached
Queenstown. where new captain took
charge He received orders from two
different agents to take the vessel to
Liverpool and Havre. respectively. While
he hesitated two firms set up claims to
her cargo and the Planet was attached.
Later she was further arrested for salV-
age at the suit of the owners OF the Lon
uon steamer. II was months before the
various claims we're settled.