The sun., 1917-05-30
MONGOLIA SHELL
GOOD, D,SAYS NAVY
Accident Laid to Bursting of
Brass Cup Into Fragments
at Firing.

WASHINGTON. May 2s.-Defective am
munition was not the cause Of the recent
accident on the armed liner Mongolia,
which caused the death of two Red
Cross nurses. according to the finding
Of the naval board Of investigation. which
has completed its report. This report
which was communicated to Rear Admiral
Ralph Earle, chief OF the bureau Of
ordnance, on Friday. tho substance Of
which was published in THE SUN Satur-
day, Is the navys answer to the Sena-
torial demand for an investigation Of
the case.
The board finds that no blame at
taches to the commander of the armed
guard or any member thereof. that the
shell did not explode prematurely, that
| there was no damage to guns or mount
ings and that there was no reason 20
believe that the nurses were In posi-
| tion of danger at the time
Capt. F.. A. Wilmer, retired, was
senior member Of the board. the other
members being Commander II. C.
| Poundstone. retired. and Chief Gunner
{; John J. Murray. The witnesses examped
were Lieut.. Philip Seymour in comma n d
of the armed guard on the Mongolia
, three OF the gunners and Lieutenant
Commander John n. Ferguson. inspector
of ordnance. in command OF tho Iona
ammunition depot
Lieut.. Seymour's Testimony.
The testimony OF Lieut.. Seymour"
says a statement made public by Secre-
tary Daniels. CLEARLY established the
| fact that the shell and ammunition
functioned perfectly. the flight Of the
shell being true and accurate and the
discharge being absolutely normal and
without fault in any way. shape or
! fashion. All witnesses testified that the
shells either registered hits or struck
near the target. The pieces OF brass
taken from the bodies OF those killed
further estab ablished the fact that 1t was
| the bursting mouth cups that caused
their death.
"The testimony OF Lieut.. Seymour on
this point was as follows:
Further investigation showed me
! that the disastrous firing occurred from
/ No. 3 gun, situated in the centre line Of
! the after part of the ship For all G
inch guns on the Mongolia the ammuni-
tion used is separate, having a shell and
a cartridge case which contains the
powder. The accident was caused BY
| fragments OF the brass cup which Ia
! put in the mouth OF the cartridge case
"In this particular instance No. 3
gun caused the disastrous firing The
brass cup broke into fragments when
the gun was fired and it was carried
outside the gun, apparently maintaining
a rotary motion. which had been given
! it by the rifing OF the gun. This cen.
trfugal force which had been .mpa rted
to the fragments was sufficient 10 carr,
therA out at right angles to gun a dis
tance OF about 1TJ feet
All Trained Ganners.
THE testimony OF Lieut.. Seymour
also eliminated the theory that the ac.
cident was due to tampering of any
kind The shells were put In each CUR
overnight, the charges being kept ir
the ready magazine chest. Two mer
were on watch at each gun. The read,
magazines were under observation and
the guards were all armed with re-
volvers. No one. not even member
of the crew, was allowed within fifteer
feet of any gun. Lieut.. Seymour alst
testified as to the experience OF tn,
men. All were trained gunners, frest
from practice in the South.
Rear Admiral Earle in supple
mental statement says that the she'll
on the Mongolia were a new lot thor
oughly overhauled since the acciden
with the st. Louis ammunition.
Mr.. DanieIs's Statement.
Secretary Daniels in giving out the re
port and Admiral Earle's explanator.
comment made this statement:
"The findings of experts reached afte
painstaking delibcration should end tn
confused conjecture that has complica te,
this sad and regrettable accident NJ
blame attaches to Lieut., Seymour or tn
men OF the gun crew. Neither shell
nor guns were defective No powe
could have foreseen the peculiar boomer
angling OF the brass mouth cup. a de
vice in use in the navy for twent,
years.
"A similar tragedy might not occu
again In another twenty years. yet W
do not mean to take the risk. IL is pro
posed TO remove all metal mouth cup
and replace them with wooden disks o
else to develop a fibre mouth cup II pos
siblc.
"The shells OH the Mongolia at tn
! time OF the accident were all OF com
plratively recent manufacture. the fey
| shells made previous TO 1900 which wer
among those first placed on that sh
/ having been removed at the end Of ne
previous voyage. The report shou
establish clearly once and for all tina
there is no connection whatever betwee
the accident caused by the mouth Gu
OF the cartridge case on the Mongoli
and the premature bursting OF certai
shells on the ct. Louis