The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-01-19
u.b0l1 ACCIDENT KILLS -FOUR
TEN OTHERS INJURED ON AMER.
ICAN SUBMARINE.
Terrific Explosion Within Hull Comes
During Repair Work on the E.2.

were killed and ten injured, five dam
gerously, in an explosion today on
the submarine E-2 while the craft
was undergoing repairs in dry dock
at the New York navy yard. One
of the men killed was an enlisted
electrician and the others civilian
workers.
At least three of the ten now in
hospitals are not expected to live.
The dead: r. B. seabert. electric
ian. second class; James H. Peck,
civilian. general helper. Brooklyn:
IL. p. Schultz. civilian. machinist.
Brooklyn; Joseph Logan, civilian.
general helper, Brooklyn.
The injured: L. c. Miles, chief cleo
trician, Brooklyn: Ramon Otto. cleo
trician. .Middlesburg, Md; Guy H.
Clark. Jr.. Frankfort, N. Y; John
Holsey. Baltimore; James Lyons.
civilian; Henry zoll. civilian; Otto
Hassert. civilian; Richard Heine,
civilian; Michael Peyser, civilian; Au-
gust Kaplin, civilian.
The detonatiOn was terrific. but the
submarine itself from the outside
shows no effects.
The interior was badly shattered
but so tight was the vessels shell
that there was no means OF escape for
gas and it was more than an hour
after the blast before the work, Of
recovering the bodies could be COM
pieted. A ladder blown up through
the coming tower fell $50 feet away.
The injured and one body were re-
moved soon after the accident, but
three bodies far down in the craft
could not be reached until the gas
had been blown out by compressed
air.. Soon after the. explosion several
naval officers led rescue party but
were partly overcome by fumes.
i was then that compressed air
pipes were run into the shell. ..
The number of men inside the SUBJ
marine at the time OF the explosion
Ia not known definitely. About 20
were working on the craft.
It ~ not thought possible that any
Zone who was inside could have es-
fcaped. injury.
What caused the explosion has not
been definitely decided. Rear Ad.
miral Nathaniel 3. Usher. COM
mardant Of the navy yard, after q
brief dnvestigstton. declined to ex-
press an opinion. He said:
"The men were at work in the bat
terry compartment of the E-2 putting
the new Edison batteries through a
rheostat to measure the voltage and
the explosion occurred in that com.
partment. The battery will generate
no kind Of gas and there was no gas
oline On board. The engine was OF
the oil-burning Dissl type .$ s.
Pending the appointment of an off,
tcial board of inquiry Rear Admiral
Usher named a temporary tnvestigat-
Ing committee as follows: Lieut.. Com
mander Pope. Washington. com.
mander Of the receiving ship Maine;
Lieut.. L. M. Stewart Of the torpedo
boat destroyer Mccall and Lieut..
Rush p. Fay. commander OF the SUBJ
marine division to which the E.2 was
attached. This committee immsdi-
ately began to take the testimony.
The opinion was expressed that the
process Of withdrawing the charge
from the batteries might have caused
the formation of hydrogen gas. The
explosions Of that nature have been
frequent on submarines of all navies
and several light ones have occur
red on American boats.
The E-2 was the only vessel in the
world equipped with the Edison
nickel batteries and she made her
tirst trip, with them December T.,
last. 1t was reported that the new
batteries gave better speed with less
fuel. Dy
The Edison battery. experiments
have proved. generates NEARLY double
the ordinary amount of hydrogen
during the process Of charging hut
on discharge or while lying idle gives
of much less. During the battery
trials there were reports from her
officers Of an undue amount Of hy-
drogen, The boat made one trip
with observers aboard and it was re-
ported that while in operation not
enough gas was generated to be dan
gerous.