New Britain herald., 1924-06-13
I'll. NAVAL CATASTROPHE.


 Persons unfamiliar ni.a fighting chips r51l marvel st tha accident 10
 the ba.tjaship Mississippi. when tur-
 ret crew was prac. scal}y Nipcl ogt by
 en explosion o' powder: eA-sai.o-s,
 though they r.jl pity the >ic-.ms, MI
 not marvel 50 greatly. Experience
 with bowler in turret7 and on the smaller bore guns has taught them inc possibility Of explosions, and the chances are that many Of them won der how it is that such accidents happen comparatively seldom.
 A long way from the scene o' .he accident and taking such infor- nation a.s the Associated Press has furnished a.s a basis or conjecture we may account for the explosion before the breech vas closed in several ways.
 The procedure in loading 1i-inch sun is readily undem,ood, Shells and ammunition are kept in magazines near the base ot the furrets below the water-line O, the ship. Electric hoists carry first the shells and then the powder to the breech Of the guns, The lower compartments, where the hoists are loaded, are known as handling rooms" and the tarret eon- tinues down from the deck about them Ike large funnel, the armor- plated sides insulating the turret from the rest or the ship. The sholi is first loaded and seated in the gun by an electric rammer. The occasion being target practice al this time, non-eS- ploslvc or dummy" shells were prob ably used, the compartment in tho shells usually carrying the high eX- plosiye being loaded with sand. Fol- lowing tho seating of the shell tho powder bags are rammad home and the brecch, witch has been previously loaded sith a primer, closed. The gun is then ready 10 fire by electricity,
 Tha pointer O. the gun, who keeps l. on it's tsrge', hss an electric circuit closed while he is "on." There is an- other control Swith on The ship go that one man may fire every gun at once by closing this switch, The pointer be- ing on, and having his switch closed Che does not hold it closed when not +'on"D tine master switch completes the circuit, discharges ihe primer which shoots iet of flame into the end os the pow der bag and discharges the gun. Premature explosion might have come about through the pointer having his switch closed, not knowing that the action Of closing the breech vas incomplete. The crew may have been g few seconds tardy in getting i' the load. other guns were loaded and the maet.I-switch vas closed. The primer then. quite possibly. ig- nitod Inc powder. as it would have had the breech been closed and locked.
 A remnant of burning silk from the powder bag ot previous firing may have been burning in the brcech. This would discharge the powder in the gun and cause the nare-back.
 The shell being seated and inc breech open the force os ihc explosion would naturally go backward into the tmret, and the fire. gas and concus- sion destroy life rght through the igrret Such is the risk that every sailor takes, even at target practice.
 4 "hsng-irs" in another gun was responsible for the socond explosion. In other words. the primer had prob- 'nIy gone off but, for some reason or }th"r. il had seemingly failed to ignite ha powder bag. As there IS always question, in theSe cases, aRethrr the powder bag has been iEHitrd and is 1oHly burning but has not com nunicatcd tha spark 10 inc pow. Ter, guns are kept vFh their hreechez ocked and trained 10 the po:nt where hey 1iil do the least damage. After considerable period of time has
 apscd without the guns going off hey sr- oprned and unIgaded into