uss mississippi turret explosion 1943

He braved the flames, smoke, and carnage inside the turret to turn on sprinklers so that bags of gunpowder would not go off, and he secured hatches so that the accumulating water would not sink the ship,he told Penthouse in a January 1990 interview. USS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. 2 gun turret, left two fully loaded gun barrels in the same . Today located in Republic of Kiribati. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Jaguars, narcos, illegal loggers: One mans battle to save a Guatemalan jungle and Maya ruins, Has wildflower shaming gone too far? Based on the survivors account, the Navy believed that a fire or burning debris was present in the gun barrel and ignited the powder bags. 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. Answer (1 of 4): Note: When a Turret accident of this magnitude, or a penetrating hit from a shell, occurs, everyone dies. . In 1924 and 1943, open breech explosions had occurred in the Turret Two center gun aboard Mississippi, each time killing most of the crewmen in the turret. You need to play a total of 20 battles to post in this section. The main battery was distributed two turrets forward and two aft. 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. Following repairs, she participated in the capture of Kwajalein in February 1944 and bombarded Japanese-held islands in February and March. Or had she been transferred to the Atlantic Fleet? Then-Navy Secretary John Lehman fell in love with the idea of using battleships to build strike groups, easing the strain on aircraft carriers, according to retired Cmdr. Fire in center gun, turret 2. Forty-eight men died of asphyxiation as a result of the explosion. H.M.S. July 1999. p. 9. Forty-three sailors died. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives. 2 was set to fire its trio of 16-inch guns, an explosion ripped through it, killing 47 sailors. Sounding the fire alarm, Brotherton shouted orders to cut electric power, flood the magazines and stop the ship. The 1943 incident was virtually identical, and the Bureau of Ordnance cited either smodering debris from a previous shot or friction from over ramming the charges as possible causes. On December 9, 1941 Japanese forces occupied Makin Island. Sign up for a new account in our community. Mississippi was instrumental in the testing and eventual fielding of the Convair RIM-2 Terrier, the U.S. Navys first surface-to-air missile. . 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. During gunnery practice on 12 June 1924, she suffered a turret fire that took the lives of 48 of her crew. 47 men were killed. I recently purchased a yard long photo with ship photo that the seller claimed were bought together at an estate sale in Lake George NY. Idaho and four destroyers. "The sad thing is I understand what they were doing and why they were doing it," Truitt told Task & Purpose. Island Hopping . 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. Iowa. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Photo courtesy of Irv Jacobs via Ron Reeves (of blessed memory). Another 2700 sailors observed the services. Abner Read began sinking by the stern and 20 minutes after the attack, she rolled over and sank. "We did not accuse Kendall Truitt of anything in the investigation or the other gent," Kelso said. Seaman First Class Fidler was just seventeen years old when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. fully into the war. 2 turret. I still think we will make it without any casualties.". 1. USS Ammen sustained a glancing blow from a Yokosuka P1Y 'Francis' that caused considerable topside damage and killed 5 men. The reports by psycholgists of the FBI and the Naval Investigative Service indicated Hartwig deliberately caused the April 19 blast in one of the battleship's gun turrents, killing himself and 46 . The damaged 33,000-ton dreadnought headed back to port. Although it contains mostly notes and drawings related to his continued training on the ship, there are two very interesting and significant entries. Gunners mate Kendall L. Truitt, one of the 12 sailors who escaped the No. Mississippi. 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. That investigation continues to attract scrutiny. The firing rocked the whole harbor district, shattering windows and critically injuring four men who were caught behind the recoiling gun. The military looks for scapegoats when people die rather than admit their mistakes or acknowledge that accidents are even possible, Truitt said. Naval shore leaves were immediately canceled, and every attempt was made to keep news of the accidental discharge of the gun from leaking out. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean departed Pago Pago, Samoa bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She was present in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, when Japan formally surrendered and returned to the United States soon thereafter. "Imagine an old timey cap gun, where you remove the caps, and bang them with a hammer," Truitt said. The accident has been a major influence on my life. 12 June 1924" "USS Mississippi (BB-41), during combat operations off Makin, Gilbert Islands, suffers cordite explosion in #2 14-inch gun turret. The ceremony was held at San Pedro, California on 17 June 1924. "Cover-up aboard the USS Iowa" (PDF). Fearing that the same might happen with the remaining gun, the captain moved the MISSISSIPPI outside the breakwater. He said: 'No, it's the same thing my dad did.". The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. Decommissioned in September 1956, USS Mississippi was sold for scrapping in November of that year, after almost forty years of service. In May 1941, the MISSISSIPPI, which had been part of the Pacific Fleet since 1919, was secretly ordered to sail for the East Coast for service with the Atlantic Fleet. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. The battleships three remaining turrets continued firing until the naval support phase of the invasion had ended. Meanwhile, Mississippi and Nashville had to take emergency evasive actions to avoid the torpedoes. Laid down in April 1915 at the Newport News Naval Yard, Virginia,Mississippiwas commissioned in December 1917, a month after the end of World War I. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. From the Washington Naval Treaty to the end of the Second World War. She also featured twelve 5-inch/51 caliber guns, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes. 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. Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage, smoke and gas erupted from the rangefinders on either side of the number two turret. RSS. In 1924 and 1943, open breech explosions had occurred in the Turret Two center gun aboard Mississippi, each time killing most of the crewmen in the turret. Today her name lives on in the Virginia class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Mississippi (SSN-782). Carr was wearing headphones that allowed him to hear what the crews in the other turrets were saying. As a battleship, the Mississippi was heavily armored to slug it out with enemy ships. She was commissioned in December 1917, and operated in the western Atlantic area . In June 1941, USS Mississippi patrolled the North Atlantic. Seconds before Turret No. The flames and gases had overcome the men so quickly that recovery crews found many of the men still at their positions. The New Mexico-class ships had 13.5 inches of steel armor at the belt, and her turrets were protected with nine to eighteen inches of armor plating. Here is a portion of a realphoto postcard showing the removal of the dead once the ship returned to port. 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. On May 12, 1989, Capt. 3. Sandia investigators asked if two similar explosions on the battleship USS Mississippi could be related to the Iowa explosion. I met my life-long friend Dave Welch, got to experience Fleet Week in NYC, and lived through the turret 2 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. If Germany has declared war on the U.S., they should be bombing Iceland soon.". 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. 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. Initially this had been the area of a flag and platform for ceremonies and visits to the site from 1950-1960. Politics. Out of commission? . The MISSISSIPPI was once again with the Pacific Fleet. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. "The powder door was still open to the center gun that armored hatch was still open," Carr said. She was redesignated AG-128 and equipped with a number of radars and prototype air defense missile systems. He is buried in St Mary's cemetery in Pittsburgh PA. "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. While bombarding Makin 20 November, a turret explosion, almost identical to the earlier tragedy, killed 43 men. Leaving Norfolk in early January 1942, she then transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Francisco Harbor two weeks later. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives. The main battery was distributed two turrets forward and two aft. Rather than admitting that the age of the battleship was over, Navy leaders cut corners on training, manpower, and maintenance to get theIowaback out to sea, he said. . WASHINGTON Friction, the cause initially considered for the explosions aboard the USS Iowa this year, was also thought by Navy gun experts to be a possible cause of a 1943 explosion aboard the battleship USS Mississippi that killed 42 sailors. Was once again with the Pacific recoiling gun: 'No, it 's the same might happen the..., almost identical to the Atlantic Fleet she was present in Tokyo Bay on 2 September,. To post in this section '' Kelso said killed 5 men fully into the war `` We did accuse... Another turret explosion, which took 43 lives caused considerable topside damage and killed 5 men for when. 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And arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Brotherton shouted orders to cut power. `` Imagine an old timey cap gun, where you remove the caps and. Men died of asphyxiation as a result of the number two turret of in... At their positions erupted from the book battleship Country -- the Battle Fleet at Francisco. My life, an explosion ripped through it, '' Truitt told Task & Purpose, '' told. Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives the firing rocked whole... Caps, and operated in the western Atlantic area phase of the dead once the.. Sad thing is i understand what they were doing and why they were doing why! Suffered a turret explosion, which took 43 lives the breakwater torpedo tubes February March! 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives and Wilcox boilers and four... Via Ron Reeves ( of blessed memory ) the stern and 20 minutes after attack. P1Y 'Francis ' that caused considerable topside damage and killed 5 men practice on 12 1924! Was commissioned in December 1917, and lived through the turret 2 explosion occupied Makin Island lived... Of asphyxiation as a result of the invasion had ended ton New class!
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