The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-07-16
BOARDOF INQUIRY PLACES BLAME FOR SHIP BLAST
Poor Air Pressure, Leay. :. ing Gas In Guns
 Caused Explosion

WASHINGTON, July 15.-The tur- ret explosion aboard the battleship Mis- sissippi off the California coast last June 13, in which A men and three ot- ficers were killed, resulted from in- sufficient air pressure used in cleaning the bore of the big gun,aceording to findings of the naval court of inquiry.
 The fire in the upper handling room, the court said in it's findings announced today. was .'caused by the safety doors not heinz entirely cl6sed,n and casual ties were increased by the presence of unofficial observers "who crowded the ,passageways, making exits more diff cult" s
 The court made no recommendations, it's report being confined solely to find ings of fact. Secretary Wilbur and his technical staff have taken the document under study to determine whether there should be further action in connection with failure to comply with regulations recurring that safety doors in turrets be closed during firing operations, and also with regard to the presence Of uIl. authorized persons in the turret.
 Details or Accident f
 Summarizing the report, the depart. ment gave the following as %facts" es- tablished by the court:
 x At about Il :45 q. ln., June F, l92a, the U. s. s. Mississippi, while firing advanced practice Bs fogsther with s1e TenneS4ee an Ida lln. slffeIek al tFs si ~ tile f5 < 6 bts n 6f ~ which resulted ff the dea th oE tss rec officers and 44 Cor 451 men, and the injury of nine other men, About four hours later the left gun of No. tur- ret was accidentally discharged, and 10 additional men were injured.
 SThe casualty in question occurred during the firing of the eighth salyo. Prior to that time, namely. upon the completion of the load for the third salvo, the left gun of No. 2 turret fired prefnatureIy while the firing circuit was open and whiIe the gun was in bonding position. As the plug was closed, no damage was done.
 H1ain Casualty Described VI .tAs described by eye-witnesses, the main casualty occurred as follows The seventh salvo had been fired, guns re turned to loading position and plug opened. There appeared to be some trouble with air pressure, although not very clear just what, except that the gun captain was heard to make some remaks about the air pressure; the tur- ret captain picked up wrench and stated he would fix it. The shell was rammed home, four bags of powder placed on the spanner-tray and rammed into the gun, rammer withdrawn, whereupon there emerged from the breech of the gun a small grayish ball off smoke and flame. followed by a large flash of flame. Flame and gases. Immediately filled the gun compart- ment and passed through the safety doors above the shell table to the other two gun compartments, and through the peep-doors to the turret officers booth. Deaths occurred as the result of asphyxiation."
 ''The court was of the opinion that the premature firing of the left gun on the third salvo was due to foul bore consequent to insufficient air pressure and guns not being properly cleared of gas before loading.
 The court was of the opinion that the same cause resulted in the main caushalty; that the gun being fired into the wind probably made the expulsion of gases more difficult; that the number of casualties was increased by the pres ence of unofficial observers, who crowd ed the passageways, making it more diff ficult to escape that the damage casualties on the left and center guns probably resulted by the failure to keep the safety doors over the shell table closed that the fire in the upper handling room was caused by the safety doors not being entirely closed"