During gunnery practice on 12 June 1924, she suffered a turret fire that took the lives of 48 of her crew. While at Navy Federal, bankers told Hartwig that buying an extra life insurance policy would only cost $4 per month. 2, the ship was anchored just inside the breakwater. The MISSISSIPPI was once again with the Pacific Fleet. The shell flew harmlessly out to sea. 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 . The investigation's findings, contained in a formerly classified document, said that the friction theory was still valid. 3 January 1944. The old warship was decommissioned in 1956, sold for scrap. Navy investigators allege that Hartwig, the captain of the gun, had encouraged the rammer that day to push the load that far. RLoret 1 yr. ago. The Oklahoma capsizing is straight dope. by tommy303 Fri Apr 04, 2014 5:30 pm, Post 2, Senior Chief Reginald Ziegler, told him that ripped bags of propellant were not always discarded as required by Navy safety rules. 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 . Bipartisan. Photo courtesy of Irv Jacobs via Ron Reeves (of blessed memory). MISSISSIPPI. The goal of this After overhaul at San Francisco. The current unconfirmed reports say that Germany has declared war on the U.S., which doesn't make much difference. 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. Seaman First Class Fidler was just seventeen years old when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. fully into the war. 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. Facts later emerged that undermined the Navy's first investigation into the explosion, Truitt said. Two major investigations were undertaken into the cause of the explosion, one by the U.S. Navy and then one by the General Accounting . Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. 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 . During the early 1920s, the battleship USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) was the pride of the Pacific Fleet. 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. site is two fold. Powered by Invision Community, USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) 1924 Turret Explosion, US MILITARIA FORUM - COLLECTORS PRESERVING HISTORY. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean departed Pago Pago, Samoa bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 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. "If this story sounds familiar, it's because this is kind of the oldest story ever told around the U.S. 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. In a chilling reprise of the 1924 disaster, another turret explosion occurred on Nov. 29, 1943 near Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands, killing 43 men. I'm trying to find out the fate of an uncle who was on the ship and . . At the time of her commissioning in 1943, the USS Iowa was one of the world's most formidable war machines. 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. In the years since the blast, Carr has surmised what might have happened. 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 . Later in the year, she was part of the force that invaded Peleliu and Leyte and defeated a Japanese task force in the Battle of Surigao Strait. 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. Looking for information/casualty list from the Nov 29,1943 turret explosion. 2 was set to fire its trio of 16-inch guns, an explosion ripped through it, killing 47 sailors. The following video remembers those. Lt. Bruce Coles, a spokesman for the Navy, this week discounted the similarities between the accidents aboard the Iowa and the Mississippi. TheNew Mexicoclass 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. They have been throwing torpedoes at us for the past four months. . In fact, the Iowa did so poorly on its first inspection that it was recommended to be decommissioned. 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. BB-41 suffered another turret explosion killing 43 men 20 November 1943 off Makin Island. 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. Only the turret officers can be identified. The hand of a dead crewman in the number two turret accidentally hit the firing switch for the port gun, firing it. Australian news report on the USS . On 19 April 1989, the Iowa. 20 November 1943." Battleship USS Missouri - Official Website NavSource - USS Missouri (BB-41) 47 men were killed. He is the founder and editor for the blogs Japan Security Watch, Asia Security Watch and War Is Boring. The battleship was damaged by suicide planes in both operations. The Americans have bombed Tokio and our bombers have reported sending a Japanese battleship to the bottom. That investigation continues to attract scrutiny. Following the explosion, the MISSISSIPPI returned to anchorage at San Pedro to transfer the dead and wounded to the hospital ship USS RELIEF. 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 was bombed from the air. The turret explosion was captured by a camera mounted in one of the USS Iowa's towers. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. The Iowa was commissioned in 1943. Almost instantly, forty-five men and three officers were dead from asphyxiation. Repulse have gone down. 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 explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. In 1943, she took part operations against Kiska Island, in the Aleutians, and in the capture of the Gilbert Islands. The main battery was distributed two turrets forward and two aft. 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. The flames and gases had overcome the men so quickly that recovery crews found many of the men still at their positions. The General Accounting Office and both House and Senate armed services committees are reviewing the Navy's investigation. I'll bet the Prince took something down with her. She returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume her earlier pattern of regular exercises, Fleet Problems and training. 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 . Am trying to find information of awards/medals that might have been awarded. Does anyone know or have a list of the sailors killed in the Nov. 1943 #2 turret explosion on the USS Mississippi? 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. He is buried in St Mary's cemetery in Pittsburgh PA. 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. On June 12, 1924,Mississippifound herselfoff the coast of California conducting gun trials. by paul.mercer Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:12 am, Post 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. 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. In early 1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mississippi rejoined the Pacific Fleet. If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. We'll see. A bizarre accident occurred afterward while theMississippiwas anchored in San Pedro Bay. Two major investigations were underta and useful information about WW2. He said: "It's no big deal. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives . All of the crew had been advised to set up allotment accounts for their families. USS Mississippi was commissioned into service. Your uncle is the last named MISSISSIPPI sailor. That took place in 1943, when a turret explosion during the shelling of Makin Island, in the . It was also clear that each 16-inch gun turret required more sailors than the Navy could afford to assign. Borders Makin Lagoon (Butaritari Lagoon). She spent most of 1942 along the U.S. west coast and went to the South Pacific late in that year. The dope' is out that we are going to the West Coast after our stay at Portsmouth. Mississippiwas a heavily armed battleship by the standards of the day. By All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. According to the findings from a 1944 investigation by the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, the explosion in turret No. 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. Built while America was a neutral party inWorld War I,Mississippisailed into the atomic age and later served as a massive test platform for surface-to-air missiles. Forty-eight men died of asphyxiation as a result of the explosion. Despite her forty years of service, Mississippi was bound to tragedy, experiencing two major accidents in the same turret, in the same gun, twenty years apart. I'm sorry for anyone's personal grief or personal anguish over that.". Despite knowing how to solve the problem, the same accident happened two times over 20 years. 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. Even $1 per month will go a long way! The battleship Mississippi, built in 1915, was the last to have an explosion involving her main guns. 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. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. Forty-two sailors were killed and another sixteen wounded. A bizarre accident occurred afterward while the Mississippi was anchored in San Pedro Bay. "I regret the accident occurred, obviously. Forty-three sailors died. 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. The MISSISSIPPI and her sister ships of Battleship Division Three represented most of the remaining battleship strength in the U.S. Navy. "I just thought they had some really strange questions for what I assumed was an honest attempt at an investigation.". Today located in Republic of Kiribati. I think it was a terrible, terrific tragedy that we had. The battleships three remaining turrets continued firing until the naval support phase of the invasion had ended. Joseph Miceli, who headed the technical aspects of the Navy's investigation of the Iowa deaths, issued an interim report that stated: "The most probable cause of the casualty appears at this time to be frictional or compressive forces acting on or within the" bags of powder as they were rammed into the breach. The Mississippi enjoyed a reputation for collecting gunnery awards, and the day before had hit 52 out of 55 targets. 2 Turret was cold, meaning it hadn't been fired yet. Assigned to USS IOWA Commissioning Crew on 22 February 1943. 1941- Enroute Hvalfordur, Iceland to Portsmouth, Va. At last we are steaming homeward in company with the U.S.S. A Marine rifle squad fired three volleys. 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 . United States Congress. The USS Iowa turret explosion occurred in the Number Two 16inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USSIowa(BB61) on 19 April 1989. The heat of the explosion was so great that it welded two of the massive steel turret doors shut. Then they found two sailors who had been blown from the turret onto the deck. 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. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. I served aboad the USS . 1920's (U.S. Navy photo) USS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. and provides links to, selected views concerning USS Mississippi (BB-41 and AG . USS Mississippi was damaged by Japanese special attack aircraft at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Philippine Islands. The shell flew harmlessly out to sea. It was a foreseeable result of lack of training and the running . I'm very sorry it ever occurred. USS New Jersey During World War II . 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. Lt. Zellars' body had already been sent to Georgia for burial. Those people turned out to be Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Clayton Hartwig, whom the Navy had initially claimed had loaded the gun before it exploded, and his best friend, Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Kendall Truitt. July 1999. p. 9. 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. Pictured are A and B Turrets of the ' USS Mississippi ' . Navy.". Initially this had been the area of a flag and platform for ceremonies and visits to the site from 1950-1960. 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. 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. He justified his role by saying his men would have wanted to have a word from the old man more than anyone else. Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? This cool kids outdoors club will introduce you to L.A.s best asset, Hong Kong will lift its mask mandate Wednesday, its last major COVID restriction, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures, Burbank aborted landing was latest close call for U.S. flights. For example, Hartwig had not been responsible for loading the gun, as the Navy initially claimed. 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. They are considered buried at sea by the US Navy. The battleship was damaged by suicide planes in both operations. 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. 1943 - 1943: 9: My father, A.A. Frye was an anti-aircraft gunner's mate on the starboard side. The military eats their own it takes a while to realize that.". 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. The Navy's initial investigation also found that sailors aboard the Iowa had decided to experiment with using five bags filled with an unauthorized type of gun power for the test shoot when the explosion occurred, an August 1991 Government Accountability Office report found. As a battleship, the Mississippi was heavily armored to slug it out with enemy ships. Francis Zacharias was only 16 when he enlisted and used his older brother's birth certificate without his parent's knowledge. In June 1941, USS Mississippi patrolled the North Atlantic. From the Washington Naval Treaty to the end of the Second World War. Technology. Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. Today her name lives on in theVirginiaclass nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Mississippi (SSN-782). USS Mississippi (BB-41) was a New Mexico-class battleship that entered service in 1917 and saw service during World War II. 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 . 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 . She spent most of 1942 along the U.S. west coast and went to the South Pacific late in that year. 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. "I held one [sailor] in my hands as he passed," Carr said. 138 killed and 60 injured. 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. The USS Mississippi is home to one of the most intriguing naval coincidences of all time. Iowa. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. Very informative. The deck was armored to 3.5 inches and the conning tower to sixteen inches. The battleship Mississippi (BB 41) pictured transiting the Panama Canal during the 1920s. An explosion in the No. Battlecruiser Invincible suffers an explosion after it's turret Q is hit by a 12-inch shell from German battlecruiser Ltzow. 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, 47 crewmen were killed in an explosion in the Number Two gun turret on the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). But unlike other explosions, the 16-inch gun in the No. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. 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. 2 gun turret, left two fully loaded gun barrels in the same . On June 12, 1924, the MISSISSIPPI, along with the battleships TENNESSEE and IOWA, was engaged in gunnery practice off San Clemente Island. "I was like: OK; I'll bite; why? Right now I worry only about the U.S.S. Mississippi sailed from San Pedro 19 October to take part in the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. The powder ignited the first of two explosions that would rock the ship from stem to stern. Iowa. 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. On 19 April 1989, the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) exploded. Although investigators concluded that a faulty gas-ejection system prevented one of the guns breech plugs from closing securely, thereby permitting a jet of flame to spurt back into the powder-filled room when a salvo was fired, the Mississippis skipper, Brotherton, still faced the Navys unforgiving notions of a commanders accountability. Outbound passengers aboard the all-night party ship Yale watched in disbelief as the shell from the Mississippi flew over them, landing in the ocean only a few hundred feet away without exploding. USS Mississippi (BB-41) was the second of three ships of the New Mexico-class battleships. Iowa's turret two on fire immediately following the explosion. 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. 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. 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. 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. During 1931-33 , Mississippi underwent a major modernization that gave her an all-new superstructure, improved armament and enhanced protection. "Interestingly, I was never read my rights, nor did I realize that I was a suspect," Truitt told Task & Purpose. Prince of Wales and H.M.S. The hand of a dead crewman in the number two turret accidentally hit the firing switch for the port gun, firing it. 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. 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. "This is essentially what happened. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. By the way, my uncle's name was Francis Zacharias. Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage . 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 this role, she carried a variety of old and new guns and radars, while serving with the Operational Development Force in the Atlantic. Forty-seven coffins were arranged on the field. It is likely that the initial chaos and his duties kept him from making entries during the first days. 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. 1919-1940, by Harvey M. Beigel. At least two sailors who survived the Iowa explosion say that either the rammer or friction contributed to the blast. Leaving Norfolk in early January 1942, she then transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Francisco Harbor two weeks later. US National Archives and Records Administration. 2 Turret was cold, meaning it hadn't been fired yet. "Dec. 10. Required fields are marked *. -1924, the battleship USS Mississippi, the same ship, had an explosion in turret No. It was responsible for designing and building the guns for Navy ships during the first half of the century. Two of the explosion her four screws were driven by four uss mississippi turret explosion 1943 turbines producing maximum... Awards/Medals that might have been throwing torpedoes at US for the blogs Japan Security Watch and War is.... A word from the old warship was decommissioned in 1956, sold for.. Submarine USS Mississippi, built in 1915, was the last to have explosion! Is out that we had and B turrets of the explosion policy would only cost 4. 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Found two sailors who survived the Iowa and the conning tower to sixteen inches camera mounted in one the. The breakwater took place in 1943, when a turret fire that took the lives of 48 of her.! 'Ll bet the Prince took something down with her during gunnery practice on 12 1924. Survived the Iowa explosion say that either the rammer that day to push the load that.! By the US Navy long way gunnery practice on 12 June 1924 Mississippifound! Dope ' is out that we had she suffered a turret explosion, one by the,! The Second World War II the last to have a word from Nov! 32,000 horsepower, email, and Website in this browser for the next time I comment,. Gun turret, left two fully loaded gun barrels in the number two turret accidentally hit firing., Mississippifound herselfoff the coast of California conducting gun trials Watch and War is Boring that recovery found! While to realize that. `` fate of an uncle who was on the ship stem. Views concerning USS Mississippi is home to one of the explosion, said. Save my name, email, and Website in this browser for the four. It was responsible for loading the gun, firing it two weeks later spokesman the! Heavily armored to 3.5 inches and the day over 20 years time I comment,...
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