Evening star., 1925-12-13

surface navy. On January the de-
stroyers cambridge and Reuben James,
came together during maneuvers. The!
ships were damaged, although not
seriously, and no lives were lost.
On January IL, off Lookout Blight .
during a severe gale, the destroyer
Coghlan, named for Dewey'S heroic
captain at Manila, dragged her an
chors and went ashore, being refioatet
with small damage. This accident :
happily. did not take any toll of lives.
on January l6. however, four lives
were lost. including the captain OF
the ship, when the second line cruiser
Tacoma struck a reef while approach
ing Vera Cruz Harbor. Mexico, in a
heavy gale. due to changes in navi-
gational lights made by the Mexica II
authorities without a warning to ship
ping of the changes. The crew Of
the ship was taken off without loss.
but the captain and three radio oper-
ators, who stock by the ship, lost
their lives when she broke up under
the hanmering of the monster waves
characteristic OF those Shoal waters
during extreme weather.
A respite from disaster until Nav
~ was broken by the collision Of the
submarines S-3 and SIG. which col
ilded on that date In New London Har.
not seriously damaged and no lives
were lost. But on June l2 the INK
got in some frightful work. The great
lattleshtp Mississippi. while at target
practice off San Pedro, Calf. suffered
L turret explosion in which iS officers
and men We're killed outright or died
Of injuries n few hours after the ex-
plosion. This was one OF the worst
accidents which ever happened to a
q a fl1 }y,n
While il has never been discovered
what caused the explosion OF the pow
der charge. there were cases OF hero
ism Ill connection with the disaster,
which are in accord with the highest
traditions OF the Navy. The men be-
low the turret In the handling room
closed the doors OF the magazine to
keep out the flames and made every
effort to extinguish the burning pow
der grains which fell into the room.
into which all the powder magazines
opened.
1t was found. on entering the tur-
ret. that one Of the men reached up
his dying hand and pulled the lever
operating a sprinkltng device. thus
preventing the burning Of several
hundred pounds Of powder. If the
powder had exploded, 1t is altogether
likely that the flames would have
reached the magazine, carrying the
ship and 100 men to destruction
While we grieve over the loss OF the
brave men in the turret, we cannot
overlook the courage. determination.
patriotism and self sacrifice which
came to light after the accident,
While the month Of July had it's
quota of accidents there were no lives
lost. On the 2nd of the month the
destroyer Lavalette ran aground near
Fort Ross, Calf, and on the 5th. dur
ing heavy fog. while entering
Portsmouth. \. H., the destroyer
Brooks weR ashore. On the 18th, dur
ing submerged maneuvers. like two
great sightless steel fish. the subma-
rines S-33 and S-35 collided, but in
all three OF these accidents the dam
age to the vessels was not material.
There were but two accidents dur
ing August, neither Of which caused
loss Of life. nor was there very great
damage done to the vessels. On the
11th. during night maneuvers. carried
out without lights. the destroyers
F'arenholt and Litchfield collided, and
on the goth the submarine S-34 ran
aground off the entrance Of San Fran
cisco Harbor. On September "a an
other submarine got into trouble The
navy yard tug Wooley. while attempt
ing to come alongside of the S-25 at
Portsmouth Navy Yard, rammed the
side Of the submarine without serious
ly damaging 1t and without injury to
any member Of the crew.
X X X
a MOTHER serious accident occur
red October 20, when q turret ex.
plosion during target practice killed
l3 men on the cruiser Trenton. It has
never been ascertained how the pow
der bag coming up the powder hoist
to the turret caught fire, but it is
known that the burning powder sack
was grabbed by one Of the men in the
turret in an attempt to thrust 1t In a
tub Of water standing near for that
purpose. and that another bag Of pow
der in the turret was grabbed up BY
another sailor, who attempted to i'm.
merse 1t in a tub Of water Both bags
! burst into flames in the hands Of the
men who held them and they met
their death In their heroic effort to
save their comrades.
The month closed with only one
other accident, the submarine RI
running ashore near Barkers Point
Hawaii, October 25. The boat was
later floated and there was no loss of
life.
The month Of November was a hard
one for submarines. On the 11th the
So and the Sis collided in Asiatic wa.
ters. and on the 22nd the R-5 and R-18
came together during maneuvers
while submerged. In neither case was
the damage irreparable and there were
no lives lost. On December 80 the
submarines SO and S.48 collided. near
Block Island. without loss Of life or
serious damage to either boat.
! This closed the years accidents as
far as surface and subsurface vessels
| were concerned. but the annual re
port of the chief Of the Bureau of
Aeronautics states that during the
| year there were 1870 aircraft crashes,
! killing Is men. seriously injuring IA,
and causing minor injuries to 26 9TH
erS.
January. 1925. found the hard-luck
jinx still at work, for on the 18th the
submarine S-19 was driven ashore off
Cape Cod. No lives were lost. but sal.
| wage operations were difficult and the
boat was badly damaged. On January
90 another submarine, the SIS. while