Evening star., 1924-06-12
Disaster Occurs When Amer
lean Warship Is at Target
Practice on West Coast.
FLARE-BACK OF RIFLE
SETS FIRE TO POWDER
14-1nch Shell Explodes as Vessel
Drops Anchor to Take
Off Dead.
By the Associa ted Press.

By the Associate Press
SAN PEDRO, Cal, June IL
Three officers and forty-three en-
listed men are dead. and between
ten and twenty injured and burned
as the result of an explosion on
the battleship Mississippi, according
to official information given to the
Associated Press by the naval patrol
station in this port
A "fare-back" from one of the
fourteen-inch rifles in the turret
ignited the powder supply which
practically wiped out of existence
the entire crew of the turret room
and also killed several men in the
upper handling room.
List of Dead.
The officers killed were: Ensign
McCray of the L.. S. s. New Mexico,
an observer.
Ensign Erwin and Lieut. Neeller
of the Mississippi.
Four powder bags containing 450
pounds of explosive each were in
side the rifle turret, according to one
of the surviving sailors in the han
ding room above, where several were
also killed.
OF the injured, several sailors in
the passage spaces and handling
room above the turret were terribly
burned by gas and from the explo-
sion.
On Firing Practice.
The fourteen-inch rife that ignited
the turret powder supply was prac-
ticing extreme elevation firing at the
moment of the explosion, the idea be-
ing to take advantage of the battle
ships roll or list to the opposite for
maximum altitude and efficiency of
the gun.
The explosion occurred early in the
afternoon. The dreadnought, imme-
diately after the explosion, wire
lessed the Navy Hospital ship Relief
in the harbor here to make ready,
and proceeded at full speed, making
a record run for the forty-five miles
between the harbor and drill grounds.
second Explosion Occurs.
The white hospital ship Immediate
ly proceeded from its berth to meet
the dreadnought, and the meeting
was effected just inside the break
water AS the transfer of stretcher
cases started, second violent ex-
plosion occurred when a T4-inch shell
discharged, the projectile narrowly
missing the coastwise passenger liner
Yale at the harbor entrance.
The explosion of the she'll in the
harbor here was due to striking of
the projectile on the turret. The pro-
jectile hurtled aft of the steamer
Yale, which was on it's way to San
Francisco, and buried itself in the
white caps beyond. No one was in
jured by this second explosion.
Removed ON Stretehers.
Within a few minutes after the
dreadnought came to anchor twenty
stretcher cases were transferred by
small boats to the hospital ship
The mine sweepers Brent and King
transfer of the dead to the hospital
ship Relief.
The Mississippi was off shore today
participating in firing practice with
other vessels of the Pacific fleet.
The PROV of the battIeship was
black with sailors as she came in.
Navy officials here refuse to COM
ment on the disaster and rigid CEN
sorship is being maintained Every
effort was made to prevent the re-
suits of the explosion from being
made public.
On request for an official state
ment concerning the disaster from
the commanding officer of the Mis-
sissippi, the Associated Press CORE
spondent was informed that no Off
cial statement would be issued until
tomorrow morning.