The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1914-11-27
EIGHT HUNDRED MEN PERISH
WHEN SHIP SINKS CLOSE
TO LONDON.
ExPLsloN WRECKS euLWARK
5000 TON SEA
FIGHTER.
ONLY FOURTEEN OF THE CREW
WERE SAVED FROM TER
RtBLE DISASTER.

By ASSOCIATED PRERa.f
LONDON, Nov 27.-Additional de.
tails concerning the loss at Sher.
ness yesterday of the battleship Bul.
wark, and her entire crew, with the
exception of IA men, makes the ad.
miralty theory that she was blown
up by an internal explosion more and
more plausible. An official inquiry
which is being held in private was
opened in Sherness this morning.
Unofficial investigation served to
confirm the belief that the destruc'
ton OF the Bulwark was caused by an
internal explosion.
SHERNESS, Eng, Nov. 27.-The
British battleship Bulwark was de-
stroyed by terrific explosion as she
lay off here yesterday morning. There
are only II survivors from the crew
OF 700 or 500 men who were aboard
at the time. The explosion is be.
lieved to have occurred in her for.
ward magazine. Whether it was
caused by accident or design is a
question to be determined by the
GO10IulhsLou WHICH, hae bSSh opPSIAS
ed to investigate.
In the opinion of naval men it was
an internal explosion that put an end
to the battIeship which for IL years
had done service at home and abroad
and lately had been doing her part
in guarding English shores. There
was no great upheaval of water such
as would have occurred If she had
been torpedoed or struck by a mine.
Instead the ship was enveloped in
smoke and flame and when this had
cleared nothing could be seen but
wreckage floating on the water.
Houses Shaken Eight Miles OFF.
Houses in towns seven and eight
miles away were shaken by the ex.
plosion and even before men on ships
anchored nearby could reach their
own decks, tine Bulwark had disap.
peared. The neighborhood was strewn
with an enormous amount of wreck.
age, while pieces Of the ship were
thrown six or seven miles to the Es'
sex shore.
Considering the size OF her navy,
Great Britain has been singularly
free from disasters OF this character.
Nevertheless, when the French war
ship jena was destroyed by an in
ternal explosion in 1907, all cordite
ammunition was taken from all the
British ships and carefully examined,
Refrigerators were installed in the
ships to keep the powder cool.
The Bulwark, which was one Of
the older battleships, cost 100000
pounds sterling t$5,O0o0oo).
Ammunition Exploded Report Says.
LONDON, Nov. 26.-The loss of the
Bulwark, according to Central News
dispatch received this evening from
Chatham, was due to an accidental
explosion while ammunition was be-
ing loaded on the warship.
According to the admiralty the ex.
p1osion originated in the Bulwark's
magazine.
The Bulwark blew up at 1858. a. m,
and the force of the explosion aboard
the warship was so great that houses
in Sherness and even in South Bend,
seven miles away, on the other side
OF the Medway, were violently shak.
en-. The people fed into the streets
in alarm. When the great ship blew
up dense clouds of smoke and fame
shot into the air. The vessel dis:
appeared beneath the waves in three
minutes.
So terribly was the Bulwarkk rent
that It was impossible to render her
any assistance. Immediately after
the explosion the vessel was blotted
out by smokke and as the veil slowly
lifted handful OF men were seen
struggling In the water. Small craft
rushed to their aid and picked them
I'D. Some were badly mutilated.
A touch OF the dramatic was added
to the catastrophe by the fact that
the band OF the Bulwark was play
ing when the explosion came.
Deny Germans Sank Her.
Bulwark was lying at anchor off thel
naval port Of the sherness near the
mouth Of the Thames, but the Off
GERS Of the port scout the public Inn
preston that the vessel was the vic.
tim of a German submarine. This
seems to be supported by the absence
of an upheaval in the water.
An eyewitness who was on a ship
a short distance from the ilhated
Bulwark said:
'T was at breakfast at about tea
minutes to eight o'clock this morn.
ing when heard an explosion and
went on deck. Ny first impression1
was that the report was produced
by the firing OF a salute by one of the
ships, but the noise was quite excep.
tional. s5.
ssWhenpI got on decksI soon saw
that something awful had happened: