Evening star., 1953-10-18
FbI and Navy Hunt
For Signs Of Sabotage
In Leyte Explosion
BY the Associated Press

BY the Assoeiafed Press
BOSTON, Oct. 17.-FBI and
naval intelligence agents today
hunted for possible signs of Sabo-
tage in the below-deck section
OF the huge aircraft carrier Leyte
where explosion and fire killed
SO sen.
Thirty navy men and four
civilians were killed or died
shortly after they were pulled
from the SCARED Leyte by heroic
rescue crews Friday.
Two other navy men died in
hospital beds today.
Four sailors are listed as still
in critical condition" Seventeen
others are hospitalized, but in
less serious condition.
Naval officers say they cannot
tell yet what caused the series of
explosions which rocked the 500
million docked carrier, pending
the presentation of evidence to a
Naval Board of Inquiry.
Board to Begin Hearings.
The three-man board will ar
rive by plane from Washington
tomorrow and begin hearings
Monday morning.
Rear Admiral Delbert S. Corn
well was appointed president of
the board. Other members are
Capt. Frank N. Turner and Capt.
L. 0. Fox. The hearings, open to
the press, will be held in the
Navy building.
The wrecked area, four decks
below the landing deck on the
vessels port side, was roped off
and put under armed guard after
an inspection by FBI and naval
intelligence agents.
The Navy said the area will
remain closed to all civilians and
Navy personnel until after the
inquiry boards examination.
The FBI'S Boston Office re-
fused to discuss it's interest in
the case but Navy officials said
that under governmental regula-
tions covering agency jurisdic-
tionS, the FBI investigates Fed
eral civilian employees while Navy
Intelligence is empowered to in
VeStigate its own personnel.
More than 1,400 Navy men
and more than score of civilian
workers we're aboard the Leyte
at the time of the explosive fire.
Sabotage Considered.
A Navy officer said that while
sabotage does not seem likely
at the moment, that phase is be-
ing completely explored in this
investigation"
AS the inveStigative part of the
disaster began to take form,
tales of horror and heroism were
related by the men who lived
with it for up to six hours.
One of the most touching
stories was related by Steward
1/c OsSie Ward of Memphis,
Tenn, one of the injured.
He told how he and Ensign
Richard Wenderoth of Saugus,
Mass, tried to save a badly
burned sailor, Earl Slater of
Jacksonville, Fla, by wrapping
him in blankets and wet towels.
Slater died today in a hospital.
Steward Ward said that while
they were ministering to Slater's
burns, they heard a cry from
a hatchWay.
Calls for Chaplain.
I'VE ran over there and pulled
down a burning officer. He
was burned beyond recogni-
ton. We pulled off his burning
Clothes" Mr.. Ward said.
I'VE put blankets around him
and he said, I'm a Catholic. |
Get me chaplain. My blood is
type A
After we told him we were
trapped down there, he said,
Let us pray He led us in prayer.
He never mentioned his pain
once. We don't know who he
was. We don't know if he is
alive or dead.
Capt. Thomas A. Ahroon, 46, |
OF Norfolk, Va. skipper of the
Leyte for less than three weeks,
expressed bewilderment as to
the cause of explosion.
He said he was in his cabin
when the blast shook the 856-
foot-long Leyte. He described
it as "a dull rumble like a sub
way train going through"
Uses Escape Hatch.
Smoke Immediately cut off |
his escape to the second deck,
but he used an escape hatch to |
reach the hanger deck to direct |
a quickly-converged rescue crew
of Navy personnel. civilian
workers and city f1ref1ghterS.
Later. he said the flash fire
was difficult to explain inasmuch
as there was neither ammuni-
ton nor explosive aviation gaSo-
line aboard. There were no
planes aboard, either.
The second Navy man to die of