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. They also repeated assurances that friction or other accidental means did not cause the Iowa deaths. Key point:Twice the same gun turret had an issue that caused it to blow up. Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage, smoke and gas erupted from the rangefinders on either side of the number two turret. Initially this had been the area of a flag and platform for ceremonies and visits to the site from 1950-1960. 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. ww2dbaseMississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. 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. Black smoke poured out from the burning No. A Marine rifle squad fired three volleys. After an extensive preliminary bombardment, the Marine assault force headed towards the beach andMississippiand the other ships increased their rate of fire. 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. All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB. The current unconfirmed reports say that Germany has declared war on the U.S., which doesn't make much difference. He said: 'No, it's the same thing my dad did.". Forty-eight men died of asphyxiation as a result of the explosion. 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. 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. Facts later emerged that undermined the Navy's first investigation into the explosion, Truitt said. All others are marked with an "X.". Abner Read jettisoned her torpedoes which immediately began their runs toward other ships in the group. 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. On June 12, 1924, there was an explosion in the USS Mississippi's No. See attached. 2 Turret was cold, meaning it hadn't been fired yet. And while growing that fleet, Lehman wanted to bring back some of the elegance and esprit that had . 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. 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. United States General Accounting Office. 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 . It's easy! What's our Navy doing anyway? The scene inside was too terrible to describe. 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. However, what he writes on December 10 and 11, 1941, tells the story well. . RSS. 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. 47 men were killed. 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. 2 turret. 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. Following repairs, she participated in the capture of Kwajalein in February 1944 and bombarded Japanese-held islands in February and March. But when investigators learned that Hartwig had named Truitt the beneficiary of a $100,000 life insurance policy, they claimed thatHartwig who died in the blast had planted a bomb in the gun. Previously, ships other than aircraft-carriers had to come to a halt in order to lower the aircraft into the water to allow them to take off. Published April 02, 2018 09:40:36. Flash! TheIowasubsequently went to the shipyard so its power plant could be improved, but its gun systems weren't updated, he said. The British lost the Prince of Wales and the Repulse. Bipartisan. Politics. Don't worry about collecting. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. BB-41 suffered another turret explosion killing 43 men 20 November 1943 off Makin Island. 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. A bizarre accident occurred afterward while theMississippiwas anchored in San Pedro Bay. Reply. 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. Mississippi. 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. USS Mississippi (BB41AG128), the second of three members of the New Mexicoclass, was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 20th state. The Mississippi enjoyed a reputation for collecting gunnery awards, and the day before had hit 52 out of 55 targets. . For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. Then they found two sailors who had been blown from the turret onto the deck. 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 . Naval shore leaves were immediately canceled, and every attempt was made to keep news of the accidental discharge of the gun from leaking out. I heard they are going to put up a telephone line from Portsmouth, Virginia, to Hvalfordur, Iceland, using the periscopes for poles. "I knew all 47 guys inside that turret because as part of the ship's policy we had rotated between all three turrets," Carr, who served as a gunner's mate in the Iowa's aft 16-inch turret, told Task & Purpose. The battleship was damaged by suicide planes in both operations. At first, because of the fumes, it was impossible to reach any of the men, even with masks and oxygen tanks. 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. 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. In fact, the Iowa did so poorly on its first inspection that it was recommended to be decommissioned. Mississippi provided gunfire support for the Lingayen landings in January 1945 and for the conquest of Okinawa in March-June. Less than two decades later, the Mississippi went through the same agony again. 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. 2 turret when the gun exploded above him. The turret explosion was captured by a camera mounted in one of the USS Iowa's towers. Two major investigations were undertaken into the cause of the explosion, one by the U.S. Navy and then one by the General Accounting . It was one of the worst disasters suffered by the Navy during peacetime. Luckily, the fire did not set off the powder bags in the other two guns. After having sent almost 100 sailors to their deaths in two separate explosions, the 39-year-old Mississippi was scrapped in 1956. Here is a portion of a realphoto postcard showing the removal of the dead once the ship returned to port. I think it was a terrible, terrific tragedy that we had. Mississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. Today her name lives on in theVirginiaclass nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Mississippi (SSN-782). 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. The main battery was distributed two turrets forward and two aft. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw and McKean departed Suva, Fiji bound for Pago Pago, Samoa. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives . 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. Fearing that the same might happen with the remaining gun, the captain moved the MISSISSIPPI outside the breakwater. Investigators also found that some access safety doors inside the turret had been left partly open. "He died in my arms.". We'll see. The Oklahoma capsizing is straight dope. Seconds before Turret No. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. . 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. 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. Available for both RF and RM licensing. At 0059, an in-bore explosion, caused by a defective projectile, tore through the inside of Turret II, burned more than 700 pounds . 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. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives. "The gun where the explosion occurred had not fired" that day. Iowa. Carr was eventually able to climb into the wrecked turret. 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. National Security. Find the perfect uss mississippi stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. 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 . The MISSISSIPPI was once again with the Pacific Fleet. Prewar and during the Pacific War located in the Gilbert Islands. 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. --another violation of regulations. Hartwig's father had seen combat in the Navy as a gunner's mate, Truitt said. It was also clear that each 16-inch gun turret required more sailors than the Navy could afford to assign. "I just thought they had some really strange questions for what I assumed was an honest attempt at an investigation.". Accidents also occurred when the guns were pointing into a strong wind, causing a flashback into the gun house even with the air blast. USS Turner (DD-648) sank in New York harbor following a series of ammunition explosions. Destroyers report there are six subs in back of us. -23), the erstwhile Normandie, pride of the Compagnie . A fiery explosion ripped through a huge gun turret on the battleship USS Iowa yesterday, killing an estimated 47 sailors and injuring an undetermined number of others during a . By the way, my uncle's name was Francis Zacharias. Decommissioned in September 1956, USS Mississippi was sold for scrapping in November of that year, after almost forty years of service. he Washington Post reported in September 1989. The battleships three remaining turrets continued firing until the naval support phase of the invasion had ended. "That fireball went straight to the bottom of the turret. Mississippi was instrumental in the testing and eventual fielding of the Convair RIM-2 Terrier, the U.S. Navys first surface-to-air missile. There's some paper with this group and his hat. German dive bombers would sink both ships in the spring of 1941. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. Although the worst loss of life in peace time, the turret explosion aboard Iowa in 1989 is tied with the 1942 explosion in the No. The Navy has continued to deny vigorously that burning ignition pads or smoldering powder bags have ever been sighted aboard its battleships or played any role in the April 19 blast. The mighty warship was 624 feet long with a beam of 97.5 feet, and displaced 33,000 tons fully loaded. W.D. His work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Esquire, The National Interest, Car and Driver, Men's Health, and many others. 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. 20 November 1943. 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. 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 . 1919-1940, by Harvey M. Beigel. Leaving Norfolk in early January 1942, she then transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Francisco Harbor two weeks later. He said: "It's no big deal. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. 2 gun turret, left two fully loaded gun barrels in the same . Later, the Navy would honor Zellars by naming a destroyer after him. US National Archives and Records Administration. he told Penthouse in a January 1990 interview. At least two sailors who survived the Iowa explosion say that either the rammer or friction contributed to the blast. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives . My Father served on the USS MISSISSIPPI prior to his being sent to East Africa (NCU-3 Radio Marina in Asmara). She was present in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, when Japan formally surrendered and returned to the United States soon thereafter. 2 turret. 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. The yard long is dated 1942. In June 1941, USS Mississippi patrolled the North Atlantic. Idaho and four destroyers. Today located in Republic of Kiribati. ", Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. Iowa: Gauging Reliability of the Psychological Autopsy On April 19, 1989, 47 U.S. Navy sailors were killed when an explosion ripped through turret 2 of the U.S.S. This could have led to dangerous debris remaining in the breech when the gun crew assumed it was safe to load. HTML tags are not allowed. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean departed Pago Pago, Samoa bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 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. USS Franklin (CV-13) approaches the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 28, 1945. . Forty-eight sailors were killed, and only one of the sailors manning the turret survived. 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. Out of commission? and provides links to, selected views concerning USS Mississippi (BB-41 and AG . Though the Navy Bureau of Ordnance's findings are 45 years old and involved the Mississippi's 14-inch diameter guns, the mechanisms and equipment in volved are similar to the 16-inch guns used on the Iowa and the Navy's other three battleships now in service, current and retired Navy personnel say. 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. I was on active duty at that time. Seamen in the upper chambers of the gun turret died instantly in the fiery explosion; those in the lower levels were suffocated as the blast siphoned off their oxygen. Australian news report on the USS . She spent most of 1942 along the U.S. west coast and went to the South Pacific late in that year. Ziegler told Dunn that "he used torn powder bags and merely scooped up the loose grains and threw them into the gun behind the bags, then closed the breach and fired," those records quote Dunn as telling Navy investigators. (Photo: U.S. Navy) President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, had a dream in the early 1980s: A 600-ship fleet. 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. 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. Lava's technical capabilities. 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. "That's sort of what started the whole thing.". 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