She arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, in June but soon shifted her base to Newport, Rhode Island. In 1943, she took part operations against Kiska Island, in the Aleutians, and in the capture of the Gilbert Islands. 3 other similar ships, the USS New Jersey, the USS Wisconsin, and the USS Missouri were built at the same time. 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. Forty-three sailors died. This guy served on the USS MISSISSIPPI and USS NEVADA from 1917-1919. Naval Academy, The Sullivan Brothers and the Assignment of Family Members, Historic Former U.S. Navy Bases and Stations, The African American Experience in the U.S. Navy, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Navy, Contributions of Native Americans to the U.S. Navy, The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet, Navy Underwater Archaeology Return Program, Annual Navy History and Heritage Awards - Main, Research Permits for Sunken & Terrestrial Military Craft, Scanning, Copyright & Citation Information, Obtain Duplications of Records and Photos. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. On August 17, 1942 at 3:30am two submarines USS Argonaut (SM-1) and USS Nautilus (SS-168) surfaced and deployed rubber rafts with outboard . Mississippi sustained a turret explosion that killed 43 people. In fact, the Iowa did so poorly on its first inspection that it was recommended to be decommissioned. Japanese observation planes have been seen over San Francisco. The MISSISSIPPI and her sister ships of Battleship Division Three represented most of the remaining battleship strength in the U.S. Navy. She returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume her earlier pattern of regular exercises, Fleet Problems and training. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. But unlike other explosions, the 16-inch gun in the No. 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. On June 12, 1924,Mississippi found herself off the coast of California conducting gun trials. My uncle died in 1937 from TB (he contracted while on active duty) so the story was told to me by his brother (my grandfather). The last explosion was so strong that it blew the turret's two-ton hatch off its hinges and into the water, he said. "This is essentially what happened. The flames and gases had overcome the men so quickly that recovery crews found many of the men still at their positions. Copyright 2004-2023 Lava Development, LLC., all rights reserved, Battleship Mississippi (BB-41) Photo Gallery, See all 12 photographs of Battleship Mississippi (BB-41), Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign, 8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 4 steam turbines, 4 screws, 12x14in/50cal guns, 14x5in/51cal guns, 4x3in/50cal guns, 2x21in torpedo tubes, 8-13.5in belt, 18in turret face, 16in conning tower, 3.5in decks. During World War II, in November 1943, while bombarding the Makin Islands in the Pacific, it experienced another . 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. From the Washington Naval Treaty to the end of the Second World War. "We stand by the results of the investigation," Coles said. 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. 3 January 1944. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. 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. 2 gun turret, left two fully loaded gun barrels in the same . The "Missy," as she was affectionately called by her crew, proudly displayed the large letter "E" on her stack for all to see. She was armed with a main battery of twelve 14-inch/50 caliber guns mounted in four turrets of three guns each, with each gun mounted in a separate sleeve. Francis Zacharias was only 16 when he enlisted and used his older brother's birth certificate without his parent's knowledge. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. Article on accident here. We just outran several units of the German fleet (submarines). RSS. In this part I will briefly describe . Funeral services were held June 17 on Trona Field at San Pedro. Mississippi suffered two turret explosions, oddly enough the same turret each time if I recall. Truitt was in the magazine below the No. Forty - six deaths are reported to have resulted through an explosion on the U S battleship , ' USS Mississippi ' off San Pedro . . This is a compilation of Special Report cut-ins from ABC News during the early afternoon hours, in the aftermath of the deadly explosion aboard the USS Iowa . Today located in Republic of Kiribati. by tommy303 Fri Apr 04, 2014 5:30 pm, Post However, what he writes on December 10 and 11, 1941, tells the story well. US National Archives and Records Administration. It's been 30 years since an explosion inside the number two gun turret on the USSIowakilled 47 American sailors, but for Mike Carr, it still feels like yesterday. The gunners on all three battlewagons were competing for a $20 prize that Congress had voted to award the fleets most proficient naval marksman. by paul.mercer Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:29 pm, Post Two days after the attack, accompanied by the battleship IDAHO and a number of destroyers, the Mississippi departed Iceland for Norfolk. At the time of the 1943 explosion, the Mississippi, a New Mexico-class battleship built at Newport News Shipbuilding and commissioned in 1917, was shelling Makin Island in the Pacific. Idaho and four destroyers. 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 . 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. That investigation continues to attract scrutiny. Iowa. Fearing that the same might happen with the remaining gun, the captain moved the MISSISSIPPI outside the breakwater. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Returning to Pearl Harbor in March 1943, . The last U.S. warship to experience an explosion in a similar-type gun turret was the battleship USS Mississippi when it was shelling Japanese-held Makin Island in the Pacific in November 1943 . 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. Forty-two sailors were killed and another sixteen wounded. . US Navy battleship USS Mississippi in Hampton Roads, Virginia, June 4, 1927. All others are marked with an "X.". See attached. Saturday, April 26, -(UP)An explosion in the forward turret of the U.S. heavy cruiser St. Paul killed 30 men Monday while the ship was firing on Communist targets in Korea, the Navy announced today. 1. 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. No names were provided so can not verify but I researched the ship photo and am pretty confident that it is the USS Mississippi. A photo taken from the bridge captures the explosion of the No. "The powder door was still open to the center gun that armored hatch was still open," Carr said. Before his death, he asked to be buried next to one of the victims of the Mississippi disaster at Point Loma in San Diego. His work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Esquire, The National Interest, Car and Driver, Men's Health, and many others. The closing of the hatch sealed the fate of any others who might have survived the blast, trapping them in the toxic, flaming gas cloud created by the explosion. It's possible that the powder bags began to smoke because they were old, so the gun captain rammed the bags with too much power. United States General Accounting Office. While removing the bodies from the turret, the hand of a dead officer brushed against a switch causing the left gun to fire. The waterspray system was not, if I recall, used to clear the bore between shots, just the compressed air blast. At the time, sailors in his father's division all took out life insurance policies on each other. . In these tests, Navy technicians simulated conditions in the center gun at the time of the accident, including ramming the 110-pound bags of powder 21-inches further into the barrel than normal. After an extensive preliminary bombardment, the Marine assault force headed towards the beach andMississippiand the other ships increased their rate of fire. In this role, she carried a variety of old and new guns and radars, while serving with the Operational Development Force in the Atlantic. The Americans have bombed Tokio and our bombers have reported sending a Japanese battleship to the bottom. As a battleship, theMississippiwasheavily armoredto slug it out with enemy ships. USS Mississippi (BB-41), during combat operations off Makin, Gilbert Islands, suffers cordite explosion in #2 14-inch gun turret. A tragic reminder the costs of peace time training can be paid by lives as well. During this time she also conducted search operations for German "raiders" thought to be in the vicinity. Reply. "Cover-up aboard the USS Iowa" (PDF). 20 November 1943. After having sent almost 100 sailors to their deaths in two separate explosions, the 39-year-old Mississippi was scrapped in 1956. When Navy technical experts began their examination of the April 19, 1989, Iowa explosions, they too drew preliminary conclusions that friction caused the deaths in the No. Navy records show that Emett C. Dunn, Jr., a civilian employee of the Navy stationed in Charleston, S.C., told investigators that during a March visit to the Iowa the senior enlisted man in turret No. Following repairs, she participated in the capture of Kwajalein in February 1944 and bombarded Japanese-held islands in February and March. When his body was discovered, his hand was still clutching the flood control. She was powered by nine Babcock and Wilcox boilers and her four screws were driven by four Curtis turbines producing a maximum 32,000 horsepower. The blast, which killed 47 men on five of the six levels inside the No. You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. Required fields are marked *. The Senator from Michigan has asked for a Court Martial of leading admirals and in the 14th Naval District. At 0059, an in-bore explosion, caused by a defective projectile, tore through the inside of Turret II, burned more than 700 pounds . But it soon became apparent that the World War II-era battleships required too much time, money, and manpower to be overhauled, Carroll said. The Oklahoma capsizing is straight dope. They also repeated assurances that friction or other accidental means did not cause the Iowa deaths. After the explosion, Truitt mentioned the insurance policy in passing to Hartwig's family. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives. The following video remembers those. The USS Iowa (BB-61) was the lead ship of the last class of battleships built by the U.S. Navy, and was the first of four in that class to be commissioned, on 22 February 1943.Although the Japanese super-battleships Yamato and Musashi were heavier and had larger guns (nine 18.1-inch) the Iowa-class (Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin) were without doubt the most sophisticated . While at Navy Federal, bankers told Hartwig that buying an extra life insurance policy would only cost $4 per month. Another sailor, David Smith, claimed that Navy investigators had coerced him into telling them Hartwig propositioned him and discussed how to use a bomb's timer, the Washington Post reported in September 1989. All of the crew had been advised to set up allotment accounts for their families. . Repulse have gone down. The accident has been a major influence on my life. 2. This was a wise decision on the part of the captain. How to find the best blooms without the drama, Nature-curious? The last shell and charge was removed the next day. I'm sorry for anyone's personal grief or personal anguish over that.". All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. (Photo: Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection) . "They were trying to build up the Navy. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. USS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. Lt. Bruce Coles, a spokesman for the Navy, this week discounted the similarities between the accidents aboard the Iowa and the Mississippi. She also featured twelve 5-inch/51 caliber guns, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes. TURRET TWO: DAMAGE CONTROL MEASURES FOLLOWING THE EXPLOSION . USS Mississippi was commissioned into service. The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. I'm looking for any information on a Lt (jg) Millay who served aboard the USS Mississippi (BB-41) during it's WWII Pacific Tenure (1942-1945) He was at the Pearl Harbor Naval Barracks Dec 7, 1941 . Gunners mate Kendall L. Truitt, one of the 12 sailors who escaped the No. Two major investigations were undertaken into the cause of the explosion, one by the U.S. Navy and then one by the General Accounting . The guns' lubricants were the next to ignite, he said. It took the sailors eight hours to douse the blaze. "We all knew each other rather intimately.". An inquiry found that there had been inadequate air pressure forced through the gun to expel the incandescent gases and other flammable residue after firing. 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.". April 20, 1989. In June 1941, in response to the deteriorating war situation in Europe, she was brought back to the Atlantic, operating between the United States and Iceland during much of the rest of that year. Built while America was a neutral party in World War I, Mississippi sailed into the atomic age and later served as a massive test platform for surface-to-air missiles. USS Turner (DD-648) sank in New York harbor following a series of ammunition explosions. The mighty warship was 624 feet long with a beam of 97.5 feet, and displaced 33,000 tons fully loaded. As the stricken battleship glided into a San Pedro berth, Rear Adm. William V. Pratt boarded the ship and the hospital ship Relief pulled alongside. Class: Allen M. Sumner class destroyer Named for: Reigart Bolivar Lowry Complement: 336 Officers and Enlisted Displacement: 2200 tons Length: 376 feet 6 inches Beam: 40 feet Flank Speed: 34 knots Range: 6500 Nautical Miles Final Disposition:Scrapped October 1996 The USS Iowa turret explosion occurred in the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) on 19 April 1989.The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. Up the Navy, this week discounted the similarities between the accidents aboard the USS,... So strong that it blew the turret, the 39-year-old Mississippi was scrapped in 1956 Hartwig that buying extra. With enemy ships center gun that armored hatch was still clutching the flood control to... Anyone 's personal grief or personal anguish over that. `` battleship strength in Aleutians. 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Operations for German `` raiders '' thought to be a member in order to leave a comment ammunition... To clear the bore between shots, just the compressed air blast, Fleet Problems and.... Ignited powder bags, causing the left gun to fire feet, and in the Naval... To be a member in order to leave a comment of turret No her... On each other rather intimately. `` on my life turret explosion that 43! The Navy bombed Tokio and our bombers have reported sending a japanese battleship to the bottom gun..
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