Evening star., 1914-11-27
FALL Of LyDD|TE
SHELL, IT IS SAID,
BLEW UP BULWARK
Fourteen-Inch Missile Burst,
Causing the BattIeship's
Magazine to Explode.
GIANT FIGHTER SINKS
AMID SHEET OF FLAME
Disappears Within Three Minutes,
Only Fourteen of Crew Be-
ing Saved.
BAND PLAYING AS SHE SANK
Between TOO and 800 Lost-Shock
Felt Seven Miles Away-Eyewit-
ness Tells of Scene After
Catastrophe.
GIANT FIGHTER SINKS
AMID SHEET OF FLAME
BAND PLAYING AS SHE SANK

Cd6LdStIOpASs
SHEERNEsS. England, via London.
November 27.-The destruction OF the
British battleship Bulwark at 1853 yes
terday morning is said to have been
due to the fall and bursting of a
twelve-inch lyddite shell in her maya
zine. There was a terrific roar and the
ship disappeared amid a sheet OF
flames beneath the waters. Only four
teen of the crew of 700 to 500 men were
saved.
Thirty bodies were recovered from
the river Thames today. Most of the
bodies are mutilated almost beyond
Identification. Many pathetic scenes
were witnessed as relatives gathered
in an effort to obtain information. Up
to the present time, however, the
authorities have not given out list of
the lost
When the explosion came 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 moth
ing could be seen but wreckage float
ing on the water.
An official inquiry. which is being
held in private was opened in Sheer
ness this morning. Unofficial investi-
cations serve to confirm the belief
that the destruction of the Bulwark
was caused by an internal explosion.
Houses in towns seven and eight
miles away were shaken by the explo-
anchored nearby could reach their own
decks the Bulwark had disappeared.
The netghborhood was strewn' with an
enormous amount of wreckage. while
seven miles on to the Essex shore.
The force of the explosion aboard the
boat was so great that houses in Sheer
ness and even in Southend. seven miles
way. were violently shaken. The peo-
pie ned into the streets in alarm.
Went Down in Three Minutes.
When the great ship blew up dense
clouds of smoke and flame shot into
the air. The vessel disappeared be-
meath the waves in three minutes. Inn
mediately after the explosion the ves-
sci was blotted out by smoke. and as
the veil slowly lifted handful of men
were seen struggling in the water.
Small craft rushed to their aid and
picked them up. Some of the crew
were badly mutilated. A touch of the
dramatic was added to the catastrophe
by the fact that the band of the Bull
wark was playing when the explosion
came.
The disaster occurred while the Bull
wax was lying at anchor off the naval
post u Sheerness, near the mouth OF
II Thames. but the officers of the
pot scout the public impression that
submarine This seems to be supported
by tae absence of an upheaval in the
water. as the first lord of the admiralty
explained.
Story of Eyewitnesses.
An eyewitness, who was on ship a
short distance from the ill-fated ship
said:
II was at breakfast at about ten min
utes to o'clock when / heard an ex-
plosion and went on deck. My first i'm
preston was that the report was pro-
duceu rg the firing of a salute by one
OF the snips,' but the noise was quite ex-
ceptional.
When 1 got on deck I soon saw that
something awful haC happened. The
water and the sky were obscured by
dense volumes of smoke. We were or
dered Ut once to the scene of the dis
sster 70 render what assistance we
could. At first We could see nothing
but when the smoke cleared we were
Mortified to find that the battleship
Bulwark had gone. She seemed to have
entirely vanished from sight, but a
little later We detected a portion of the
huge battleship showing about four
feet above the water.
We kept a vigilant lookout for the
unfortunate crew, but saw only two
men i don't know whether the other
boats rescued any one. One man we sa W
was dead. The disaster was the result
of an accident"
Another eyewitness said that when
the explosion occurred. a great volume
of flame and smoke shot into the air
The ship seemed to split i'll two and
then heeled over and sank She dis
appeared in less than five minutes
Due to Magazine Explosion.
LONDON. November GA vice adj
rniral and a rear admiral who were a.
Sheerness report that they are con-
WINGED that the Bulwark disaster was
caused by magazine explosion.
Mr.. Churchill, speaking in the house
OF commons concerning the disaster
said:
The loss of the ship does not sensi-
bly, affect our military position, but |
regret the loss of life, which was very
heavy. Only twelve men We're saved
All the officers and the rest of the crew,
" hich ! suppose amounted to between
200 and 500, perished.'
Although only fifteen years old and
no longer on the Hrst HShting line, the
Bulwark still was a useful unit
The loss of the ship, however, was
nothing compared with the heavy loss
in trained officers and men, with whose
relatives Mr.. Churchill expressed ir
the house of commons his deep SYM
pathy and sorrow. The Bulwark in heI
early career was quite a favored ship
For a long time she was the flagship OF
Admiral Charles Beresford in the Medi.
ferranean.
She Was Old Battleship.
Considering the size of her navy
Great Britain has been singularly fret
from disasters of this character. New.
ertheless, when the French warshiI
Lena WAS DESTROYED bY an internal eX