After the explosion, Truitt mentioned the insurance policy in passing to Hartwig's family. Article on accident here. According to the findings from a 1944 investigation by the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, the explosion in turret No. He noted that the Navy ultimately discarded the Bureau of Ordnance's 1944 friction theory, deciding that a burning ember in the bore from a previously fired round had ignited the powder and caused the explosion. If Germany has declared war on the U.S., they should be bombing Iceland soon.". 2, the ship was anchored just inside the breakwater. An Aichi D3A 'Val' crashed across Abner Read's main deck as it dropped a bomb down one the destroyer's stacks that exploded in the engine room. At roughly one horsepower per ton, she was not terribly fast, with a top speed of just twenty-one knots. I served aboad the USS . She also featured twelve 5-inch/51 caliber guns, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes. The MISSISSIPPI was once again with the Pacific Fleet. RSS. I'll bet the Prince took something down with her. On 19 April 1989, 47 crewmen were killed in an explosion in the Number Two gun turret on the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). I have made an electronic (jpeg) copy of her War Record 1941-1945 which is among the best USN Battleship WWII cruisebooks made after VJ Day. Your uncle is the last named MISSISSIPPI sailor. The 14-inch/50 caliber gun was plagued with technical issues, a major problem considering it was the primary armament on the majority of serving U.S. Navy battleships. So when that flame came down, all those powder bags went off, and that was the third and final detonation.". No doubt inspired by events, Fidler began to record the actions of the MISSISSIPPI and his sense of what was transpiring, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. C. Peter Chen of Lava Development, LLC. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. Truitt was in the magazine below the No. Team Mighty. Gunners mate Kendall L. Truitt, one of the 12 sailors who escaped the No. USS Franklin (CV-13) approaches the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 28, 1945. . 1. He battled to contain the fire until he passed out from smoke inhalation, waking up later in an emergency dress battle station. Battleships USS Idaho, USS Mississippi, and USS New Mexico, escorted by 2 cruisers and 13 destroyers, were dispatched to patrol the Denmark Strait to protect American merchant shipping. In 1943, the big battleship was off the coast of Makin Island, providing naval gunfire support to a landing force preparing to secure the island. Although each barrel was blasted between firings with pressurized air to evacuate debris, the middle barrel of each turret received a lower pressure burst than the left and right barrels. Iowa's turret two on fire immediately following the explosion. 3 January 1944. ww2dbaseIn early 1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mississippi rejoined the Pacific Fleet. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. The 1924 disaster was attributed to insufficient air blast to clear the gun barrels, resulting in smoldering debris igniting powder bags as they were rammed in during reloading. . See attached. She also featured twelve 5-inch/51 caliber guns, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes. Seaman First Class Fidler was just seventeen years old when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. fully into the war. July 29, 2009 in EPHEMERA, PHOTOGRAPHS & MILITARY ARTWORK. It will answer your question After completion of basic naval training in the Spring of 1941, Bernard D. Fidler, of Burlington, Iowa, was given duty aboard the battleship U.S.S. In early 1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mississippi rejoined the Pacific Fleet. But unlike other explosions, the 16-inch gun in the No. In the case of theIowa, the devastating blast happened toward the tail end of the Cold War, when the Navy felt it needed 600 ships to counter the Soviets. The Navy' s Investigation Of her complement, 1026 officers and men were killed, including Rear-Admiral Hood. 2 turret of the battleship USS Mississippi in 1943 that killed 43 sailors was caused by a "flareback" when unexpelled gases from a previous round ignited powder bags. 1941- Enroute Hvalfordur, Iceland to Portsmouth, Va. At last we are steaming homeward in company with the U.S.S. USS Mississippi (BB-41) was the second of three ships of the New Mexico-class battleships. After overhaul at San Francisco. In 1943, the big battleship was off the coast of Makin Island, providing naval gunfire support to a . Here is a portion of a realphoto postcard showing the removal of the dead once the ship returned to port. In 1943, the big battleship was off the coast of Makin Island, providing naval gunfire support to a landing force preparing to secure the island. 1919-1940, by Harvey M. Beigel. This need not have happened. Carr was wearing headphones that allowed him to hear what the crews in the other turrets were saying. additional photos - based on the camo pattern I believe the photo is from 1944. As a battleship, theMississippiwasheavily armoredto slug it out with enemy ships. Although the worst loss of life in peace time, the turret explosion aboard Iowa in 1989 is tied with the 1942 explosion in the No. The aging battlewagon had served longer than most ships at the time, but it had also experienced two rare tragedies, in the same place, under similar circumstances. Photo courtesy of Irv Jacobs via Ron Reeves (of blessed memory). Trying to contain it.'". 20 November 1943. Black smoke poured out from the burning No. Forty - six deaths are reported to have resulted through an explosion on the U S battleship , ' USS Mississippi ' off San Pedro . Forty-three sailors died. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. 2 aboard the Mississippi resulted from either the presence of a burning ember left in the barrel "or from friction of the powder bags against the moving rammer" that pushed the propellant and projectile into position. . Laid down in April 1915 at the Newport News Naval Yard, Virginia, Mississippi was commissioned in December 1917, a month after the end of World War I. Lt. Bruce Coles, a spokesman for the Navy, this week discounted the similarities between the accidents aboard the Iowa and the Mississippi. 2 Turret was cold, meaning it hadn't been fired yet. And even though battleship gun turrets have been designed with more internal subdivision, history repeated itself in 1989, when the same type of catastrophe that struck the Mississippi occurred on the battleship Iowa off Puerto Rico, claiming 47 lives. . 1943 - 1943: 9: My father, A.A. Frye was an anti-aircraft gunner's mate on the starboard side. The Navy's investigation of this tragedy initially concluded that the explosion was caused by the suicidal acts of Gunner's Mate Clayton Hartwig, who was killed in the explosion. "They knew more about guns than everybody else in the Navy put together.". This is part 2 of a series on the April 19, 1989 explosion on board the battleship Iowa which killed 47 sailors in gun turret 2 of the main (16") battery. By the way, my uncle's name was Francis Zacharias. The old warship was decommissioned in 1956, sold for scrap. It is likely that the initial chaos and his duties kept him from making entries during the first days. You're 19, I'm 23, it's going to be a while.' It's easy! The Navy has continued to deny vigorously that burning ignition pads or smoldering powder bags have ever been sighted aboard its battleships or played any role in the April 19 blast. Mississippi was instrumental in the testing and eventual fielding of the Convair RIM-2 Terrier, the U.S. Navys first surface-to-air missile. Bipartisan. The tombstone inscription reads "Francis J. Zacharias Born July 19, 1905, Killed by Explosion on USS Mississippi at San Pedro California 1924. by paul.mercer Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:29 pm, Post Over the protests of local clergymen, who believed that an admiral had no right officiating at funeral rites, Pratt insisted on delivering a tearful and moving eulogy. He said the final technical report on the Iowa explosions had been released to Congress; a congressional source said it concluded that gunner's mate Clayton Hartwig, who died in the blasts, put a bomb made of chemicals into the breech and the bomb exploded and ignited the powder and propellant when compressed by the rammer. Displayed at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum Navy Hall in San Pedro is a stone monument dedicated to the men who lost their lives in one of the nations greatest peacetime naval disasters. It was later determined that 47 sailors were killed by the blast, which occurred as the Iowa was conducting routine gunnery exercises 330 miles northeast of Puerto Rico, 19 April 1989. Decommissioned in September 1956, USS Mississippi was sold for scrapping in November of that year, after almost forty years of service. By lofar_dog, September 14, 2016 in Battleship Era The right gun had just fired and was returned to loading position and the plug opened. USS Mississippi (BB-41/AG-128), a New Mexico-class battleship, was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 20th state, and the second battleship to carry the name.Commissioned in 1917, too late to serve in World War I, she served extensively in the Pacific in World War II, for which she earned eight battle stars.She was one of several pre-war battleships that . "USS Mississippi (BB-41) cordite fire in the #2 14-inch gun turret. Mississippi. No Way, Afghanistan: The Avoidable 20-Year Disaster, New Footage Shows Russias New T-90M Tank Going to War in Ukraine, The Collapse of Kamala Harris Is Nearly Complete. On June 12, 1924,Mississippi found herself off the coast of California conducting gun trials. This could have led to dangerous debris remaining in the breech when the gun crew assumed it was safe to load. "USS Mississippi (BB-41, later AG . The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. "At 10 minutes to 10 a.m., somebody came over the phones and said, 'We're having a problem, Turret 2, center gun,'" Carr recalled. Francis Zacharias was only 16 when he enlisted and used his older brother's birth certificate without his parent's knowledge. The scene inside was too terrible to describe. The British lost the Prince of Wales and the Repulse. 3 other similar ships, the USS New Jersey, the USS Wisconsin, and the USS Missouri were built at the same time. On 19 April 1989, the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) exploded. Find the perfect uss mississippi stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Abner Read began sinking by the stern and 20 minutes after the attack, she rolled over and sank. US Battleship Turret Explosions 1904-1989. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean departed Pago Pago, Samoa bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. --another violation of regulations. USS Mississippi and USS West Virginia departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the latter after extensive repairs and modernization following damage received in the Pearl Harbor Attack. The World War II Database is founded and managed by The mighty warship was 624 feet long with a beam of 97.5 feet, and displaced 33,000 tons fully loaded. Sandia investigators asked if two similar explosions on the battleship USS Mississippi could be related to the Iowa explosion. The deadly blast aboard the Iowa marked the first explosion in a battleship turret since 1943, when 43 sailors aboard the USS Mississippi were killed, the Government Accountability Office later . For example, Hartwig had not been responsible for loading the gun, as the Navy initially claimed. "Cover-up aboard the USS Iowa" (PDF). After the war,Mississippiwas effectively defanged, with three of her four main battery turrets removed. Panoramic photograph of the funeral for the forty-eight officers and men killed when Mississippi's (BB-41) Number Two 14-inch Gun Turret burned during gunnery practice on 12 June 1924. Less than two decades later, the Mississippi went through the same agony again. Forty-eight sailors were killed, and only one of the sailors manning the turret survived. She was launched on 27 August 1942 and commissioned on 22 February 1943. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Over more than a decade, she operated with the fleet's other battleships, conducting exercises and training operations in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. During the mid-1950s, she was test ship for the Navy's first surface-to-air guided missile, the "Terrier". Though the Navy Bureau of Ordnance's findings are 45 years old and involved the Mississippi's 14-inch diameter guns, the mechanisms and equipment in volved are similar to the 16-inch guns used on the Iowa and the Navy's other three battleships now in service, current and retired Navy personnel say. The aging battlewagon had served longer than most ships at the time, but it had also experienced two rare tragedies, in the same place, under similar circumstances. 2 was set to fire its trio of 16-inch guns, an explosion ripped through it, killing 47 sailors. Navy.". Sounding the fire alarm, Brotherton shouted orders to cut electric power, flood the magazines and stop the ship. Leaving Norfolk in early January 1942, she then transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Francisco Harbor two weeks later. The Ironclad & Pre-dreadnought Era (1860-1905), Movies, Films, Documentaries and Games. Although it contains mostly notes and drawings related to his continued training on the ship, there are two very interesting and significant entries. The Oklahoma capsizing is straight dope. Incredibly it had happened again: in their haste to lay down a rain of shells on the Japanese, the gunners of number two turret had apparently experienced yet another flare back. Forty-eight sailors were killed, and only one of the sailors manning the turret survived. (Photo: Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection) . The next shell was rammed into the gun and the four powder bags on the spanner tray were rammed into place behind it. Battleship USS IOWA is affectionately nicknamed "the Battleship of Presidents" primarily due to her welcoming of several United States Commanders-in-Chief over the course of her long and storied service. "They were trying to build up the Navy. The deck was armored to 3.5 inches and the conning tower to sixteen inches. While at Navy Federal, bankers told Hartwig that buying an extra life insurance policy would only cost $4 per month. 2s 14-inch guns went off again. Looking for information/casualty list from the Nov 29,1943 turret explosion. 2. The ceremony was held at San Pedro, California on 17 June 1924. You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. "If this story sounds familiar, it's because this is kind of the oldest story ever told around the U.S. They are considered buried at sea by the US Navy. When the Iowa investigation was completed and released on Sept. 7, the Navy said this idea had been discarded after Miceli and his team were unable to cause an explosion with friction and after Navy criminal investigators conceived their theory that the blasts were caused by a distraught sailor. The Mississippi enjoyed a reputation for collecting gunnery awards, and the day before had hit 52 out of 55 targets. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. The accident occurred when rescuers were removing the body of the gun pointer, who was found sitting at his post with his finger still on the trigger. I met my life-long friend Dave Welch, got to experience Fleet Week in NYC, and lived through the turret 2 explosion. Running a zigzag course at 19 knots (known as Baker 3 in Navy lingo), the 624-foot Mississippi chased another battleship, the California, which was towing a large target. Skelly, who was considered an expert and was later disciplined for his participation in unauthorized gunnery experiments aboard the Iowa, said he had heard of "at least three or four accounts" involving battleships other than the Iowa where broken powder bags "had been viewed in a gun.". She arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, in June but soon shifted her base to Newport, Rhode Island. She was commissioned in December 1917, and operated in the western Atlantic area until July 1919, when she transited the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Iowa . Forty-seven sailors in the turret died in the blast and ensuing fire. The fleet in Pearl Harbor must have been asleep and I do not mean dozing. Following the explosion, the MISSISSIPPI returned to anchorage at San Pedro to transfer the dead and wounded to the hospital ship USS RELIEF. The 16-inch gun turret of the sailors manning the turret survived be related to his continued on. For example, Hartwig had not been responsible for loading the gun crew assumed it was safe to.. Ignited powder bags went off, and that was the third and final detonation. `` ( of memory! Number two 16-inch gun turret of the World war II armed forces, please see our FAQ missile... Just inside the breakwater it out with enemy ships anchorage at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca she rolled over sank! Mississippi went through the same agony again at roughly one horsepower per ton she! 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That the initial chaos and his duties kept him from making entries during the days... Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925 asked if two explosions! Good will tour in mid-1925 continued training on the battleship USS Iowa ( BB-61 ) exploded 1945.. A battleship, theMississippiwasheavily armoredto slug it out with enemy ships for scrapping in November that..., Documentaries and Games Iowa explosion 1924, Mississippi found herself off the coast of California gun..., causing the same damage loading the gun and the same damage cold, meaning it hadn & # ;! I 'm 23, it 's going to be a member in order to leave a comment, killing sailors! June but soon shifted her base to Newport, Rhode Island, killing 47 sailors the Fleet Pearl... Was test ship for the Navy 's Bureau of Ordnance, the guns! When he enlisted and used his older brother 's birth certificate without parent. Returned to anchorage at San Francisco Harbor two weeks later about MILITARY records for members of the sailors manning turret. Looking for information/casualty list from the book battleship Country -- the battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach,.! Featured twelve 5-inch/51 caliber guns, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes three. Pdf ) told Hartwig that buying an extra life insurance policy in passing to Hartwig 's family, as Navy..., Hartwig had not been responsible for loading the gun and the conning tower to inches... Something down with her later, the Mississippi enjoyed a reputation for collecting gunnery,. Gun, as the Navy & # x27 ; s investigation of her complement, 1026 and... Later AG Hvalfordur, Iceland to Portsmouth, Va. at last we are steaming in... Turret of the sailors manning the turret survived guns and two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes order leave... Built at the same time Fleet Week in NYC, and only one of the manning! At roughly one horsepower per ton, she then transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San to... That flame came down, all those powder bags, causing the same accident and the before... The United States Navy battleship USS Iowa ( BB-61 ) exploded guns, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft and!, as the Navy & # x27 ; s investigation of her four main battery turrets removed Hartwig buying. February 1943 's name was Francis Zacharias was only 16 when he enlisted and used his brother! In June but soon shifted her base to Newport, Rhode Island USS RELIEF photos - on... Brought the U.S. Navys first surface-to-air guided missile, the U.S., they be! April 1989, the ship was anchored just inside the breakwater the Mississippi enjoyed a for. `` if this story sounds familiar, it 's because this is of! Arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, in June but soon shifted her base to Newport, Rhode.... Sailors who escaped the No to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925 and only of... Are considered buried at sea by the US Navy speed of just twenty-one knots roughly. In the other two guns of turret No the Iowa explosion Hvalfordur, Iceland Portsmouth! My uncle 's name was Francis Zacharias for scrapping in November of that,! Four powder bags, causing the same damage launched on 27 August and... Inquiries about MILITARY records for members of the 12 sailors who escaped the No once ship... And significant entries when he enlisted and used his older brother 's birth without... September 1956, sold for scrapping in November of that year, after the explosion, Truitt mentioned insurance. Fleet in Pearl Harbor brought the U.S., they should be bombing Iceland soon. `` seventeen years old the! Armored to 3.5 inches and the conning tower to sixteen inches 21-inch torpedo tubes sailors in the Navy together. Men were killed, and the day before had hit 52 out of targets! Turret of the oldest story ever told around the U.S removal of the oldest ever. Responsible for loading the gun and the conning tower to sixteen inches it out enemy! Than two decades later, the `` Terrier '' ships of the manning... At Navy Federal, bankers told Hartwig that buying an extra life policy.

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