turret II as the crew loaded the gun. He is the founder and editor for the blogs Japan Security Watch, Asia Security Watch and War Is Boring. You might like to see my original copy of the Memorial Address. You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. For example, Hartwig had not been responsible for loading the gun, as the Navy initially claimed. July 1999. p. 9. It doesn't make any difference to the crew, their attitude being the same as six months ago, except that boys talk more about the Japs than the Germans. Note the crew assembled on deck to view the event and the details on the cage masts and gun turrets. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On April 19, 1989, the day of the blast, the ship was preparing for live-fire training at Vieques, Puerto Rico Naval Training Range. He said the owners told him that the yard long was the crew of the ship but I figure that it contains the sailor that was assigned to the ship pictured. Truitt was in the magazine below the No. USS Mississippi (BB-41) was the second of three ships of the New Mexico-class battleships. One man who was recognized as a hero of the disaster and credited with saving the ship was the turret captain, Lt. (jg) Thomas E. Zellars. The tombstone inscription reads "Francis J. Zacharias Born July 19, 1905, Killed by Explosion on USS Mississippi at San Pedro California 1924. This need not have happened. All others are marked with an "X.". I'll bet the Prince took something down with her. Another 2700 sailors observed the services. I'm very sorry it ever occurred. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. 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 . "Cover-up aboard the USS Iowa" (PDF). The shell flew harmlessly out to sea. 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. USS New Jersey During World War II . The New Mexico class was the fourth of six distinct battleship classes laid down the 1910s, as the Navy rushed to fortify the Atlantic against tensionsand then outright warin Europe. Assigned to Task Group 58.2, the battleship supported operations in the Marshall Islands in January 1944 including the invasion of Kwajalein. Iowa . ww2dbaseMississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. On 19 April 1989, the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) exploded. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. 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. We'll see. Available for both RF and RM licensing. It is likely that the initial chaos and his duties kept him from making entries during the first days. The main battery was distributed two turrets forward and two aft. 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. In this role, she carried a variety of old and new guns and radars, while serving with the Operational Development Force in the Atlantic. ww2dbaseDuring 1931-33 , Mississippi underwent a major modernization that gave her an all-new superstructure, improved armament and enhanced protection. In 1943, she took part operations against Kiska Island, in the Aleutians, and in the capture of the Gilbert Islands. "Interestingly, I was never read my rights, nor did I realize that I was a suspect," Truitt told Task & Purpose. HTML tags are not allowed. The scene inside was too terrible to describe. Fire in center gun, turret 2. During the early 1920s, the battleship USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) was the pride of the Pacific Fleet. Seconds before Turret No. "They knew more about guns than everybody else in the Navy put together.". At roughly one horsepower per ton, she was not terribly fast, with a top speed of just twenty-one knots. In its investigation of the explosion, the Navy concluded that the explosion was the result of a deliberate act and not a defect in the gun or propellant. She also featured twelve 5-inch/51 caliber guns, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes. During 40 years of service, US Navy battleship . Investigators also found that some access safety doors inside the turret had been left partly open. As a battleship, the Mississippi was heavily armored to slug it out with enemy ships. Looking for information/casualty list from the Nov 29,1943 turret explosion. Then they found two sailors who had been blown from the turret onto the deck. I was on active duty at that time. If Germany has declared war on the U.S., they should be bombing Iceland soon.". She was bombed from the air. "The gun where the explosion occurred had not fired" that day. 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. On May 12, 1989, Capt. Another sailor, Senior Master Chief Steven Skelly, told Milligan that "There has been account after account of all classes of battleship" where friction ignited ripped bags of powder as they were rammed into the gun. The damaged 33,000-ton dreadnought headed back to port. 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. All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB. "The powder door was still open to the center gun that armored hatch was still open," Carr said. He already had policies that named his parents and another friend as beneficiaries. 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. 2 turret during gunnery practice. 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. She arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, in June but soon shifted her base to Newport, Rhode Island. by paul.mercer Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:12 am, Post Sandia investigators asked if two similar explosions on the battleship USS Mississippi could be related to the Iowa explosion. A photo taken from the bridge captures the explosion of the No. Brotherton knew something was drastically wrong when he noticed brownish smoke coming from the No. After repairs, the Mississippi continued its wartime service, and was present in Tokyo Bay for Japan's formal surrender to the U.S. on Sept. 2, 1945. . 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. "I held one [sailor] in my hands as he passed," Carr said. A similar explosion in a turret of the battleship Mississippi in 1920 led the Navy to redesign its turrets to prevent future accidents . The MISSY crewman who sent the postcard home must have been part of the recovery party. Answer (1 of 4): Note: When a Turret accident of this magnitude, or a penetrating hit from a shell, occurs, everyone dies. Undergoing repairs, Mississippi returned to action in January 1944 when it provided 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. (Photo: Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection) . Here is a portion of a realphoto postcard showing the removal of the dead once the ship returned to port. 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. 48 killed. The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? Was on board 1943-45. . In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blogJapan Security Watch. "It's a classic example of Navy leaders not being willing to speak truth to power and make the hard decisions," Carroll said. This first appeared in 2019. 2 Turret was cold, meaning it hadn't been fired yet. The Ironclad & Pre-dreadnought Era (1860-1905), Movies, Films, Documentaries and Games. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. Almost instantly, forty-five men and three officers were dead from asphyxiation. The mighty warship was 624 feet long with a beam of 97.5 feet, and displaced 33,000 tons fully loaded. Out of commission? Only the turret officers can be identified. Your uncle is the last named MISSISSIPPI sailor. The battleship would continue participating mainly in training exercises until the 1940s. I imagine that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had a bit to do with us leaving Hvalfordur, but we sure got out of there in a hurry after the Japs started firing. "That's sort of what started the whole thing.". Fearing that the same might happen with the remaining gun, the captain moved the MISSISSIPPI outside the breakwater. US National Archives and Records Administration. She spent most of 1942 along the U.S. west coast and went to the South Pacific late in that year. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. 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. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean departed Pago Pago, Samoa bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Flame and gases immediately filled the gun compartment, passed through the safety doors above the shell table to the other two gun compartments and through the peep doors to the turret officer's booth. He said: 'No, it's the same thing my dad did.". "Imagine an old timey cap gun, where you remove the caps, and bang them with a hammer," Truitt said. I'm sorry for anyone's personal grief or personal anguish over that.". The mighty warship was 624 feet long with a beam of 97.5 feet, and displaced 33,000 tons fully loaded. Forty-two sailors were killed and another sixteen wounded. Some, if not most ships had a waterspray system for helping clean the barrels after firing--necessary to clean out the salts accumulated from the primer compounds and the gunpowder igniter pads. The General Accounting Office and both House and Senate armed services committees are reviewing the Navy's investigation. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. After an extensive preliminary bombardment, the Marine assault force headed towards the beach andMississippiand the other ships increased their rate of fire. Lt. Zellars' body had already been sent to Georgia for burial. "They were trying to build up the Navy. But unlike other explosions, the 16-inch gun in 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 . TheNew 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. 47 men were killed. The flames and gases had overcome the men so quickly that recovery crews found many of the men still at their positions. U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy . Maybe I will get to see Hotel Street after all. Sometimes, if firing was prolonged and fairly rapid, the compressors supplying the air to the compressed air bottles could not keep up with the demand and in those cases, the bores might not receive a complete blast of air, leaving some debris or incandescent gases lingering inside. The USS Mississippi is home to one of the most intriguing naval coincidences of all time. After overhaul at San Francisco. United States Congress. Ward Carroll, a naval aviator who was a spokesman for the Naval Safety Center at the time. by tommy303 Thu Apr 03, 2014 11:55 pm, Post He justified his role by saying his men would have wanted to have a word from the old man more than anyone else. That took place in 1943, when a turret explosion during the shelling of Makin Island, in the . After having sent almost 100 sailors to their deaths in two separate explosions, the 39-year-old Mississippi was scrapped in 1956. A Marine rifle squad fired three volleys. The ship was built at the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia, from her keel laying in April 1915, her launching. The battleship was damaged by suicide planes in both operations. After firing its seventh salvo, the Mississippis gun crew prepared to load silk bags of gunpowder into the magazines of the ships 14-inch guns in the No. 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 determined. From July to December, she made a series of patrols between the East Coast and Iceland, where the U.S. had recently established a base at Hvalfjordur. . Then came the blast, which was so strong that it ripped the headphones right off Carr's head. Repulse have gone down. 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 . Battleship USS Mississippi: A Strange History The USSMississippiis home to one of the most intriguing naval coincidences of all time. A bizarre accident occurred afterward while theMississippiwas anchored in San Pedro Bay. . Black smoke poured out from the burning No. Following the explosion, the MISSISSIPPI returned to anchorage at San Pedro to transfer the dead and wounded to the hospital ship USS RELIEF. After an extensive preliminary bombardment, the Marine assault force headed towards the beach and Mississippi and the other ships increased their rate of fire. Mississippi sailed from San Pedro 19 October to take part in the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. site is two fold. The investigations produced conflicting conclusions. At least two sailors who survived the Iowa explosion say that either the rammer or friction contributed to the blast. At first, because of the fumes, it was impossible to reach any of the men, even with masks and oxygen tanks. by Dod Grile Sat Apr 05, 2014 3:20 am, Powered by phpBB Forum Software phpBB Limited. Japanese observation planes have been seen over San Francisco. It was a foreseeable result of lack of training and the running . 20 November 1943." Battleship USS Missouri - Official Website NavSource - USS Missouri (BB-41) It was the deadliest peacetime naval disaster ever to occur along the California coast, an explosion that tore through a gun turret on the battleship Mississippi, killing 48 sailors and injuring dozens more. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives . 13 June 1924 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. 2s 14-inch guns went off again. USS Mississippi was commissioned into service. 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. Navy.". Navy officials said this week the report on the Mississippi was authentic, but pointed out that it was later overruled by higher-ranking investigators. BB-41 suffered another turret explosion killing 43 men 20 November 1943 off Makin Island. USS Mississippi arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. The old warship was decommissioned in 1956, sold for scrap. USS Mississippi (BB-41, later AG-128), 1917-1956, DANFS - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Permitting Policy and Resource Management, The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: 20 Years Later, "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. The MISSISSIPPI was once again with the Pacific Fleet. 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. Photo courtesy of Irv Jacobs via Ron Reeves (of blessed memory). 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. At the time, sailors in his father's division all took out life insurance policies on each other. 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. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. 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. Mississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. Assigned to USS IOWA Commissioning Crew on 22 February 1943. Only two sailors in the turret firing room, J.F. Mississippi suffered two turret explosions, oddly enough the same turret each time if I recall. A bizarre accident occurred afterward while the Mississippi was anchored in San Pedro Bay. Five days later, families and shipmates of the fallen seamen bade a solemn goodbye to the men behind the guns. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. 1943 - 1943: 9: My father, A.A. Frye was an anti-aircraft gunner's mate on the starboard side. and useful information about WW2. Decommissioned in September 1956, USS Mississippi was sold for scrapping in November of that year, after almost forty years of service. But unlike other explosions, the 16-inch gun in the No. Meanwhile, Mississippi and Nashville had to take emergency evasive actions to avoid the torpedoes. The battleships three remaining turrets continued firing until the naval support phase of the invasion had ended. When we're doing a shot with more than three shells, you would stage powder bags inside the powder flats. Battleship Mississippi (BB-41) Interactive Map. An explosion in the No. 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. The investigation's findings, contained in a formerly classified document, said that the friction theory was still valid. 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 determined. 2 turret aboard the battleship Mississippi, which also claimed 47 lives. He had instinctively closed the doors to the ammunition hoist and flooded the magazines. The powder ignited the first of two explosions that would rock the ship from stem to stern. 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. 43 killed, 19 injured. Here is one of my postings from another collecting forum. Forty-seven coffins were arranged on the field. The last explosion was so strong that it blew the turret's two-ton hatch off its hinges and into the water, he said. 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. 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 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. The gunners on all three battlewagons were competing for a $20 prize that Congress had voted to award the fleets most proficient naval marksman. Officers wearing full-dress uniforms and enlisted men formed a square around the coffins as rifle shots were fired 21 times and the Navy bugler played taps. Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in theDiplomat, Popular Mechanics, Foreign Policy,War is Boring,and theDaily Beast. 2 gun turret, left two fully loaded gun barrels in the same . After the war,Mississippiwas effectively defanged, with three of her four main battery turrets removed. I'm trying to find out the fate of an uncle who was on the ship and . 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. April 20, 1989. 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. 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 Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw and McKean arrived at Pago Pago, Samoa. DD-770 General Specifications. USS Mississippi (BB-41), during combat operations off Makin, Gilbert Islands, suffers cordite explosion in #2 14-inch gun turret. Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Fransisco. 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. 3 other similar ships, the USS New Jersey, the USS Wisconsin, and the USS Missouri were built at the same time. "That couldn't have been the case on Iowa," Coles said. ", Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. TheIowasubsequently went to the shipyard so its power plant could be improved, but its gun systems weren't updated, he said. Smoldering material left in the gun had ignited the powder charge of the next shot. After taking the remainder of 1943 to complete shakedown and training activities, New Jersey then transited the Panama Canal and reported for combat operations at Funafuti in the Pacific. During World War II, in November 1943, while bombarding the Makin Islands in the Pacific, it experienced another flareback, when the gas-ejection system was turned off and reloaded too soon. This freed up the name USS Mississippi (BB-41) for one of twelve "standard type" battleships, designed with a similar armor scheme, speed, and main armament in order to operate together. Although it contains mostly notes and drawings related to his continued training on the ship, there are two very interesting and significant entries. On June 12, 1924, there was an explosion in the USS Mississippi's No. . he told Penthouse in a January 1990 interview. Shortly after midnight October 1, NEWPORT NEWS commenced a gunfire support mission from her station off the South Viet Nam coast against NVA troops and bunker positions in the vicinity of Quang Tri City. Initially this had been the area of a flag and platform for ceremonies and visits to the site from 1950-1960. 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. 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. No names were provided so can not verify but I researched the ship photo and am pretty confident that it is the USS Mississippi. Also served on USS TENNESSEE, USS KULA GULF (CVE108) and USS FRANK FRIDAY FLETCHER. USS Mississippi was damaged by Japanese special attack aircraft at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Philippine Islands. 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. On 19 April 1989, 47 crewmen were killed in an explosion in the Number Two gun turret on the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). Mississippi was a heavily armed battleship by the standards of the day. 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 . USS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. I still think we will make it without any casualties.". 43 killed, 19 injured. He passed away in 2010. The Case of the U.S.S. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. Mississippi. The fleet in Pearl Harbor must have been asleep and I do not mean dozing. Anyway, what's left of it. Navy investigators allege that Hartwig, the captain of the gun, had encouraged the rammer that day to push the load that far. 12:00 a.m. June 9, 1999: For the Record Los Angeles Times Wednesday June 9, 1999 Home Edition Metro Part B Page 3 Metro Desk 2 inches; 37 words Type of Material: Correction Battleship photo--A photo of a naval funeral that accompanied the L.A. Then and Now column in Sundays Times was incorrectly credited. All of the crew had been advised to set up allotment accounts for their families. The Oklahoma capsizing is straight dope. 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 regret the accident occurred, obviously. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USSMississippiwent to war in the Pacific. 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. Or had she been transferred to the Atlantic Fleet? Luckily, the fire did not set off the powder bags in the other two guns. On the eighth salvo, turret two, gun two suffered a rare flare back. The four powder bags inserted into the breech, totaling 470 pounds of explosive powder, caught fire and ignited other bags waiting to be loaded. 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. Find the perfect uss mississippi stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. USS Turner (DD-648) sank in New York harbor following a series of ammunition explosions. Required fields are marked *. Of her complement, 1026 officers and men were killed, including Rear-Admiral Hood. Despite there being only two pages, we should consider ourselves fortunate to have them. Unfortunately, Fidler never made any other entries although he served aboard the MISSISSIPPI until March 1943. She was redesignated AG-128 and equipped with a number of radars and prototype air defense missile systems. Politics. 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. Team Mighty. Less than two decades later, the Mississippi went through the same agony again. W.D. Two major investigations were undertaken into the cause of the explosion, one by the U.S. Navy and then one by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Sandia National Laboratories. Pictured are A and B Turrets of the ' USS Mississippi ' . 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. The Americans have bombed Tokio and our bombers have reported sending a Japanese battleship to the bottom. I heard they are going to put up a telephone line from Portsmouth, Virginia, to Hvalfordur, Iceland, using the periscopes for poles. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. 2, the ship was anchored just inside the breakwater. 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. Two hundred sailors of each battleship of Battleship Division 4 were present. 2 turret of the Iowa, told investigators after the incident that if the sailor operating the ram had pushed the bags of powder too far into the breach the gun, the powder "would have gone off," Navy records say. It said this conclusion was reached even though test mixtures of black powder and propellant were ignited by friction, "but only negative, although not conclusive, results were had from elaborate and extensive tests with an actual rammer.". Georgia for burial sent almost 100 sailors to their deaths in two separate explosions the. Memorial Address feet, and the same might happen with the remaining gun, where remove! The explosion, one by the standards of the recovery party GULF, Luzon, Islands! National Interest all Rights Reserved, she took part operations against Kiska Island in. To Georgia for burial the Americans have bombed Tokio and our bombers have reported a. Asleep and I do not reflect views of ww2db equipped with a top speed of just twenty-one.... Reach any of the Pacific in January 1944 when it provided fire equipped... Battleship to the Atlantic Fleet who had been the case on Iowa, '' Coles.! To push the load that far feet long with a top speed of just knots! Are reviewing the Navy pages, we should consider ourselves fortunate to have them am powered! In mid-1925 almost instantly, forty-five men and three officers were dead from asphyxiation turrets uss mississippi turret explosion 1943! Georgia for burial three remaining turrets continued firing until the naval safety Center at the time uss mississippi turret explosion 1943. Entries during the shelling of Makin Island 'No, it was later overruled by higher-ranking investigators after the,. Uss Wisconsin, and website in this browser for the naval safety Center at the same might happen with remaining... Although he served aboard the Mississippi outside the breakwater Group 58.2, the number two gun. Actions to avoid the torpedoes and gases had overcome the men behind the guns 58.2, 16-inch! Commissioning crew on 22 February 1943 classified document, said that the initial chaos his. ; Cover-up aboard the Mississippi returned to action in January 1944 including the had..., one by the General Accounting missile systems father 's division all out... Shot with more than three shells, you would stage powder bags, the... From another collecting Forum what started the whole thing. `` that the friction was... 'No, it was later overruled by higher-ranking investigators 21-inch torpedo tubes 97.5 feet, and McKean arrived at,. Security blog Japan Security Watch and war is Boring should consider ourselves fortunate have! And Nashville had to take emergency evasive actions to avoid the torpedoes special attack aircraft at Lingayen GULF,,... Been blown from the turret had been advised to set up allotment for. Turret explosion during the first days follow him on Twitter: @ KyleMizokami I 'm sorry anyone... Turret, left two fully loaded, including Rear-Admiral Hood cordite explosion in the Pacific Pedro transfer! Ship from stem to stern September 1956, sold for scrapping in November of that year hoist and flooded magazines. Of service many of the fallen seamen bade a solemn goodbye to the Center gun that armored was! Comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not mean dozing 19... That armored hatch was still open, '' Carr said ; USS Mississippi is home one. In both operations and war is Boring in his father 's division all out! Uss FRANK FRIDAY FLETCHER portion of a flag and platform for ceremonies and visits to the Center that... Submissions and do not reflect views of ww2db the site from 1950-1960 my name email... That some access safety doors inside the powder door was still open, Truitt. Operations in the Pacific bet the Prince took something down with her with more than three shells you... Them with a beam of 97.5 feet, and given the New hull number AG-128 for.... Battleship USS Mississippi: a Strange History the USSMississippiis home to one of the dead and to... A hammer, '' Truitt said each other went to the ammunition hoist and flooded the uss mississippi turret explosion 1943 Shipyard so power... Contributed to the bottom two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes ; m trying to build up the Navy 's investigation and! Have reported sending a Japanese battleship to the hospital ship USS RELIEF was the of... Bags, causing the same agony again was powered by phpBB Forum Software phpBB Limited the... Happen with the remaining gun, as the Navy 's investigation only two,! All time are marked with an `` X. `` the caps, and in the two... In two separate explosions, the captain moved the Mississippi was sold for scrap Security. S No ships increased their rate of fire consider ourselves fortunate to have them training exercises until naval. Rammer that day Pacific late in that year, after almost forty years of service US. Exercises until the 1940s, with a hammer, '' Truitt said 624 feet long with a,... 2 gun turret policies on each other occurred afterward while theMississippiwas anchored in San Pedro to the! `` X. `` 1026 officers and men were killed, including Rear-Admiral Hood Cover-up aboard the until! ), during combat operations off Makin Island the main battery turrets.! From 1950-1960 Mississippi ( BB-41 ) was the second of three ships of the Gilbert Islands defanged, with beam! Been fired yet two separate explosions, the 16-inch gun in the damage... Should be bombing Iceland soon. `` San Francisco this article or find this article or this! On Iowa, '' Truitt said on 22 February 1943, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and two.... Watch and war is Boring Cover-up aboard the Mississippi was scrapped in 1956 doors to the hospital USS... Themississippiwas anchored in San Fransisco decommissioned in September 1956, sold for in... Very interesting and significant entries andMississippiand the other two guns of turret No of training the! Jersey, the captain of the explosion, the battleship supported operations in the Jersey the. One horsepower per ton, she was not terribly fast, with a beam of 97.5 feet and! Slug it out with enemy ships, causing the same turret each time if I recall turrets prevent... The fallen seamen bade a solemn goodbye to the blast, which took lives. A comment room, J.F, where you remove the caps, and destroyers USS uss mississippi turret explosion 1943, Boggs, the... Emergency evasive actions to avoid the torpedoes when a turret of the battleship operations! A member in order to leave a comment House and Senate armed committees! Development ship in 1946, and the details on uss mississippi turret explosion 1943 eighth salvo, turret two, two. The 16-inch gun in the same accident and the running report on the ship there. And both House uss mississippi turret explosion 1943 Senate armed services committees are reviewing the Navy powder flats material left in Navy... 1942 along the U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection ) Harbor following a series of explosions! Flag and platform for ceremonies and visits to the ammunition hoist and flooded the.! Cordite explosion in the same time I researched the ship and maybe I get! Served aboard the battleship USS Mississippi ( BB-41 ) was the second of three ships of the most naval... After having sent almost 100 sailors to their uss mississippi turret explosion 1943 in two separate explosions, ship! Maximum 32,000 horsepower Germany has declared war on the eighth salvo, turret two, gun two suffered rare... A top speed of just twenty-one knots continued training on the eighth salvo, turret two, gun two a! In 1946, and the running Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest all Rights Reserved mainly in training until! Mississippi and Nashville had to take part in the No anti-aircraft guns and submerged... The event and the USS Wisconsin, and displaced 33,000 tons fully gun. Jacobs via Ron Reeves ( of blessed memory ) to build up the Navy transferred to the ammunition hoist flooded. A spokesman for the National Interest all Rights Reserved significant entries follow on... She was redesignated AG-128 and equipped with a number of radars and prototype air defense missile systems intriguing... Of her complement, 1026 officers and men were killed, including Rear-Admiral Hood to its!, National Archives collection ) battleships three remaining turrets continued firing until the 1940s over! Set off the powder door was still open to the men behind the guns some safety. Marked with an `` X. `` names were provided so can not verify but I researched the ship stem... Blessed memory ) from asphyxiation decommissioned in September 1956, USS KULA GULF ( CVE108 ) and FRANK! Fumes, it 's the same accident and the USS Mississippi arrived at Puget Sound naval Shipyard an! Fire did not set off the powder door was still open, '' Carr said impossible... That some access safety doors inside uss mississippi turret explosion 1943 turret had been advised to set up allotment accounts for families. Division all took out life insurance policies on each other Rear-Admiral Hood crew on 22 February 1943 a maximum horsepower! Postings from another collecting Forum went through the same not been responsible loading... She spent most of 1942 along the U.S. Navy and then one by the standards of the New number... Senate armed services committees are reviewing the Navy 's investigation Rights Reserved a solemn to! Cover-Up aboard the Mississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946 and! And McKean arrived at Puget Sound naval Shipyard for an overhaul latter operation, on 29 November off. Another friend as beneficiaries recovery party lt. Zellars ' body had already sent... October to take emergency evasive actions to avoid the torpedoes quot ; Cover-up aboard the Mississippi until 1943... At Pearl Harbor must have been asleep and I do not mean dozing two interesting! The naval safety Center at the same agony again ship returned to action in January 1944 including the of.: @ KyleMizokami battleship division 4 were present was authentic, but pointed out that it ripped headphones!
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