New Britain herald., 1917-05-30
FREAK BLAMED FOR
 MONGOLIA ACCIDENT
Defective She'll Theory Eliminated
 by Board of Inquiry

which caused the death of two nurses on board the steamship Mongolia on the afternoon of May 20 was caused by the breakup and dehection of the Fragments of brass mouth cup on a cartridge. It was not due to defec- tive shells or powder. but 8 freakish accident, for which the commanding officer of the armed guard and itS members were not responsible. The shells on the Mongolia. and tho ammunition used were new. The mouth cup is used to seal. hermeticai- ly. the brass cartridge case, and keeps tho powder from deteriorating. This type of ammunition had been used in the navy twenty y1ars without more than two accidenti including that of the Mongolia, occurring in tho United States or other navies 50 far as the American ordnance experts are aware. The shells used on the Mongolia were different from the old type or pre- Spanish WET ammunition which caused the St. Paul and St. Louis ac- cidents. The ammunition on the St. Paul and St. Louis was defective; that on the Mongolia was not.
 These are the high lights of the re- port of the board of investigation which inquired into the Mongolia ac- cident The report reached the navy department late yesterday and was made public by Secretary Daniels last night. The findings of. the board which was appointed in accordance with navy regulations by Admiral Nathaniel R, Usher, are as follows:
 Il. The United States navy guns crews, on the steamship Mongolia, while that vessel was at sea on the a fEaN rn& Moxy AH A,~% ? o'clock, were engaged in target practice.
 '.2. That following the discharge of No. gun. installed aft on board the, Mongolia, which gun at the time was trained on target about one point forward of the port beam, at a range of between z,500 and 5000 yards, certain persona by name Edith Ayers and Helen Burnett Wood. were killed, and one other, by name Emma Mat zen, was injured, said injuries not be- lfeved liable to prove fatal; that said persons were all attached to Base Hospital No. IF. of Chicago. Ill.
 a. That these persons at the time were located In T position with refer ence to the gun which ordinarily would not be considered dangerous.
 "4. That the. fatalities evidently re- suited from the breakup and defiec- ton of fragments of the brass mouth cup of the type of cartridge employed.
 "5. That no material damage to guns. mountings. or appurtenances re- suited at the tine of this accident.
 ..6. The board further finds that no responsibility for the . accident in question attaches to the commander of the armed guard or any member thereof.
 IF. A. WILNER,
 "Captain. U. s. Navy, retired. senior
 III C. PouNDsroNE.
 Commander. U. s. Navy. retired, member.
 JOHN J.MURRAY, Chief Gunner, U. s. Navy. member.
 The witnesses examined were Lieu tenant Philip Seymour, in command of the armed guard on board the Mon-' eolia, three of the glnners and Lieu- tenant Commander John N. Ferguson, inspector of ordinances In command of J the Iona ammunition dApot. The tes- timony of Lieutenant Seymour clearly established that the shell and ann munition functioned perfectly. the flight of the shell being true and ac- lcurate ,and the discharge being abso- ! lutely normal and without fault In any way. shape, or fashion. All witnesses ! teatif,ed that the shells either regis tered hits or struck near the target. Lieutenant Proves Case. The pieces of brass taken from the bodies of those killed further estab- lished that 1t was the bursting mouth | cups that caused the deaths. On this point the testimony of Lieutenant Sey- mour was quoted as follows:
 .Further investigation showed me that the disastrous firing occurred ! from No. 3 gun. situated in the cen ter line of the after part of the ship. For all six-inch guns on the Mongolia | the ammunition used Is separate. hav- inr a shell and a cartridge case which contains the powder. The accident
 was caused by fragments of the brass cup which is put in the mouth of the cartridge case. Tn this particular in-
 stance No. gun caused the disastrous
 firing
 ssThe brass cup broke into frag- ments when the gun was fired and tt
 was carried outside the gun apparent Fly maintaining rotary motion which
 had been given 1t by the rifling of the
 gun. This centrifugal force which had been imparted to the fragments
 was sufficient to carry them out al
 right angles to the gun distance of about 175 feet. One fragment
 about 6 inches by inches penetrated the left side of one of the nurses killing her instantly, and another
 fragment, about < inch by h inch
 penetrated the left temple of the
 other girl, killing her instantly. The third girl was injured apparently with
 slight flesh wounds in the left arm
 and left thigh. and was taken to the
 United States Naval Hospital, Brook
 lyn. N. Y.
 "These women, in company with
 forty or fifty others, were all sitting
 in their deck chairs, approximately