New-York tribune., 1914-11-27
Explosion Tears Ship
Apart, Scuttling Her
Within Five Minutes.
TREACHERY ABOARD
HINTED AS CAUSE
Catastrophe Creates Pro-
found Impression in
House of Commons.
IBy Cab. o Il. rr5uns J

tBy Cab. to Ths Tribunal
London, Nov. 27.-Lying at anchor In
Sheerness Harbor, one of the biggest
of Great Brltain's naval bases, HE
Majesty's battleship Bulwark, $4,000
tons, was blown TO pieces by mys
terious explosion yesterday morning
Wrapped in dense clouds of smoke and
steam, the vessel sank within five min
utes, carrying to their deaths all but
twelve men of crew numbering be
tween 700 and 500 men.
Officially the destruction of the bat
tleship is regarded as being due TO an
accidental explosion in her magazine
from causes as yet unknown. The ne~s
was officially announced yesterday b,
Winston Churchill, First Lord OF the
Admiralty, Immediately after the close
of questions in the House Of Commons
Mr.. Churchill said:
81 regret TO say | have some bso
news for the House. The battleshil
Bulwsrk, which was lying in Sheernes'
this morning, blew up at 1888 o. m
Vice and rear admirals who we're pres
ent have reported their conviction thai
il was sn internal magazine explosion
which rent the ship asunder. There
was apparently no uphesvai in the
water, and the ship had entirely diSsp
peared when the smoke had cleared
away. An inquiry will be held to-mor
row which may possibly throw more
light on this occurrence.
All Officers Lost.
"The loss of the ship does not sens.
sibly affect the military position, but
| regret 10 say the loss of life is very
severe. Only twelve men are saved
and all the officers and the rest Of the
crew, amounting, suppose, 10 be-
tween seven hundred and eight hun
dred persons. have perished. | think
ths House will wish me to express on
It's behalf the deep sympathy and
sorrow with which the House has
heard the news and the sympathy we
feel with those who have lost their
relatives and friends
An eyewitness who was on snip
a short distance from the ill-fsted Bull
wark said
Il was at breakfast al about 10
minutes 20 8 o'clock this morning when
heard an explosion and went on deck.
Ny first impression was that the re-
port was produced by the firing Of a
salute by one Of the ships, but the
noise was quite exceptional.
when | got on deck | soon saw
that something awful had happened.
The water and the sky we're obscured
by dense volumes of smoke. We at
once we're ordered to the scene OF the
disaster 70 render what assistance we
could. Al first we could see nothing,
but when the smoke cleared we we're
Mortified 70 find that the battleship
Bulwark had gone She seemed TO have
entirely vanished from sight, but a
little later We detected portion OF the
huge battleship showing about four
feet above the water.
Nigilant Lookout Kept
I'VE kept a yigilant lookout for the
unfortunate crew. but saw only two
men. don't know whether the other
boats rescued any one. One man We
saw was dead The disaster was the
result Of an accident
Another eyewitness said that when
the explosion occurred great volume
Of fame and smoke shot into the air
then heeled over nd sank. She dis.
appeared in less than five minutes.
Houses IN towns seven and [ n,
miles away were shaken by the explo.
sion and even before men on ships
anchored nearby could reach their owr
decks the Bulwark had disappeared
The ncig ghborhood presented a terrible
appearance. being streWn with an enor
nous amount of wreckage, while piece.
OF the ship were thrown six or sever
miles on TO the Essex shore.
y touch of the dramatic was added
20 the catastrophe by the fact that the
band Of the Bulwark was playing wher
the explosion came.
When the explosion took place 4
few craft were moving IN the midway
Two men had an astounding expert
cnce. They were protected from the
direct effect OF the concussion by the
river bank and headland, but despit
this their boat was lifted out of the
water and thrown back again.
They hastened 10 the scene and
found one man wounded in the head
and leg, but swimming strongly. H,
asked them 20 save his shipmates
They picked up several and came back
for him.
This man apparently is the only on,
Of the crew who has any hnowledr,
Of the disaster, and he has little L,