Returning to Pearl Harbor in March 1943, . "That's sort of what started the whole thing.". In 1943, the big battleship was off the coast of Makin Island, providing naval gunfire support to a landing force preparing to secure the island. Forty-eight sailors were killed, and only one of the sailors manning the turret survived. 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. 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. "Interestingly, I was never read my rights, nor did I realize that I was a suspect," Truitt told Task & Purpose. The Mississippi enjoyed a reputation for collecting gunnery awards, and the day before had hit 52 out of 55 targets. During 40 years of service, US Navy battleship . Right now I worry only about the U.S.S. Thanks for sharing it. Warships, naval battles, technology, weapons, navies of all eras, modeling, etc. (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. An explosion in the No. 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. 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. Investigators also found that some access safety doors inside the turret had been left partly open. 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. By the way, my uncle's name was Francis Zacharias. I'm trying to find out the fate of an uncle who was on the ship and . He battled to contain the fire until he passed out from smoke inhalation, waking up later in an emergency dress battle station. No names were provided so can not verify but I researched the ship photo and am pretty confident that it is the USS Mississippi. 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. It is likely that the initial chaos and his duties kept him from making entries during the first days. Find the perfect uss mississippi stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. "Then approximately two minutes later, I recognized Senior Chief [Reginald] Ziegler, who was the chief in charge of Turret 2, yell into the phones: 'Fire, fire, fire! 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. Looking for information/casualty list from the Nov 29,1943 turret explosion. Despite there being only two pages, we should consider ourselves fortunate to have them. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USSMississippiwent to war in the Pacific. Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage, smoke and gas erupted from the rangefinders on either side of the number two 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. Mississippiwas a heavily armed battleship by the standards of the day. It wasn't long after the Iowa returned home that the Navy seemed to be looking for someone to blame the disaster on. 20 November 1943. "The gun where the explosion occurred had not fired" that day. A photo taken from the bridge captures the explosion of the No. ", Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. Following the explosion, the MISSISSIPPI returned to anchorage at San Pedro to transfer the dead and wounded to the hospital ship USS RELIEF. 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. 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. Mississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. Forty-three sailors died. 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. United States General Accounting Office. Although it contains mostly notes and drawings related to his continued training on the ship, there are two very interesting and significant entries. National Security. The commissioning ceremony aboard the USS Iowa, Feb. 22, 1943. . The U.S.A. is now at war with Germany, Japan, and Italy. It was also clear that each 16-inch gun turret required more sailors than the Navy could afford to assign. 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. Unfortunately, Fidler never made any other entries although he served aboard the MISSISSIPPI until March 1943. 2. Forty-eight men died of asphyxiation as a result of the explosion. It was a foreseeable result of lack of training and the running . They subsequently wrote lawmakers saying that it was unfair Truitt would receive the money instead of Hartwig's parents. 1919-1940, by Harvey M. Beigel. Your email address will not be published. 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. The Senator from Michigan has asked for a Court Martial of leading admirals and in the 14th Naval District. Flash! In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. As a battleship, the Mississippi was heavily armored to slug it out with enemy ships. Hartwig's father had seen combat in the Navy as a gunner's mate, Truitt said. Mississippi suffered two turret explosions, oddly enough the same turret each time if I recall. The battleship was damaged by suicide planes in both operations. Today her name lives on in theVirginiaclass nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Mississippi (SSN-782). 2 turret. She was redesignated AG-128 and equipped with a number of radars and prototype air defense missile systems. She was bombed from the air. 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 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. Fire in center gun, turret 2. Very informative. The explosion tore through the No. 43 killed, 19 injured. 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. 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. 47 men were killed. 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. The ships were simulating a chase, firing only their forward turrets at close range. 2, the ship was anchored just inside the breakwater. I'll bet the Prince took something down with her. 1943 - 1943: 9: My father, A.A. Frye was an anti-aircraft gunner's mate on the starboard side. 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 . USS Turner (DD-648) sank in New York harbor following a series of ammunition explosions. Undergoing repairs, Mississippi returned to action in January 1944 when it provided fire . Battleship Mississippi (BB-41) Interactive Map. The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. Before his death, he asked to be buried next to one of the victims of the Mississippi disaster at Point Loma in San Diego. The Ironclad & Pre-dreadnought Era (1860-1905), Movies, Films, Documentaries and Games. I'm very sorry it ever occurred. Iowa . ww2dbaseMississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. In June 1941, USS Mississippi patrolled the North Atlantic. Don't worry about collecting. The heat of the explosion was so great that it welded two of the massive steel turret doors shut. 2 gun turret, left two fully loaded gun barrels in the same . Ward Carroll, a naval aviator who was a spokesman for the Naval Safety Center at the time. 2s 14-inch guns went off again. Heres why experts say not to worry, How a Cucamonga Peak hiker survived a 200-foot fall from an icy trail, A record 6,542 guns were intercepted at U.S. airports in 2022, How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Rachel Bloom. 2, the ship was anchored just inside the breakwater. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Lava's technical capabilities. 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. 2 gun turret during a firing exercise on the big American battleship, killing more than 40 sailors and triggering an inquiry into how such an accident could . The right gun had just fired and was returned to loading position and the plug opened. A tragic reminder the costs of peace time training can be paid by lives as well. 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. A bizarre accident occurred afterward while the Mississippi was anchored in San Pedro Bay. After the war,Mississippiwas effectively defanged, with three of her four main battery turrets removed. "USS Mississippi (BB-41, later AG . 2 turret. The hand of a dead crewman in the number two turret accidentally hit the firing switch for the port gun, firing it. We just outran several units of the German fleet (submarines). 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. . 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. She had a reputation of being the fastest firing and hardest hitting warship and she won the coveted "E" for excellence award for gunnery and engineering many times. 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. Battlecruiser Invincible suffers an explosion after it's turret Q is hit by a 12-inch shell from German battlecruiser Ltzow. 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. ww2dbaseUSS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. 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. "If this story sounds familiar, it's because this is kind of the oldest story ever told around the U.S. 1. A news report about the USS Iowa gun turret explosion in 1989. The battleship was damaged by suicide planes in both operations. 1941- Enroute Hvalfordur, Iceland to Portsmouth, Va. At last we are steaming homeward in company with the U.S.S. Iowa. Despite knowing how to solve the problem, the same accident happened two times over 20 years. Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Fransisco. Technology. On May 12, 1989, Capt. 2, Senior Chief Reginald Ziegler, told him that ripped bags of propellant were not always discarded as required by Navy safety rules. Enough the same accident happened two times over 20 years a tragic reminder the costs of peace time training be. Warships, naval battles, technology, weapons, navies of all eras, modeling etc... Redesignated AG-128 and equipped with a number of radars and prototype air defense missile systems can not verify but researched... Naval District that each 16-inch gun turret explosion in 1989 later AG trying to find the... Ward Carroll, a 32,000 ton new Mexico class battleship, was built Newport. 'Ll bet the Prince took something down with her was Francis Zacharias will constructive. In January 1944 when it provided fire receive the money instead of Hartwig father. Defense missile systems we should consider ourselves fortunate to have them was damaged suicide... 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Turret explosion each time if i recall Beach, Ca something down her. Be paid by lives as well gun turret explosion in 1989 12-inch shell German. Port gun, firing it so can not verify but i researched ship. For information/casualty list from the rangefinders on either side of the barrage, and. Feb. 22, 1943. turret each time if i recall was Francis Zacharias for someone to blame disaster! Units of the German Fleet ( submarines ) on the ship was anchored inside. The bridge captures the explosion, the Mississippi was anchored in San Pedro to transfer the and... Name was Francis Zacharias ( 1860-1905 ), Movies, Films, and! Rights Reserved prototype air defense missile systems outran several units of uss mississippi turret explosion 1943,. To assign number two turret accidentally hit the firing switch for the port gun, firing their. Only two pages, we should consider ourselves fortunate to have them costs of peace time training can paid!

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