In 1943, the big battleship was off the coast of Makin Island, providing naval gunfire support to a . At least two sailors who survived the Iowa explosion say that either the rammer or friction contributed to the blast. In this role, she carried a variety of old and new guns and radars, while serving with the Operational Development Force in the Atlantic. The right gun had just fired and was returned to loading position and the plug opened. Nov 1, 2021, 1:18 PM. This could have led to dangerous debris remaining in the breech when the gun crew assumed it was safe to load. BB-41 suffered another turret explosion killing 43 men 20 November 1943 off Makin Island. 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. 2 turret. They have been throwing torpedoes at us for the past four months. Following repairs, she participated in the capture of Kwajalein in February 1944 and bombarded Japanese-held islands in February and March. TheIowasubsequently went to the shipyard so its power plant could be improved, but its gun systems weren't updated, 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. Your uncle is the last named MISSISSIPPI sailor. USS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. During the early 1920s, the battleship USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) was the pride of the Pacific Fleet. Naval Academy, The Sullivan Brothers and the Assignment of Family Members, Historic Former U.S. Navy Bases and Stations, The African American Experience in the U.S. Navy, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Navy, Contributions of Native Americans to the U.S. Navy, The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet, Navy Underwater Archaeology Return Program, Annual Navy History and Heritage Awards - Main, Research Permits for Sunken & Terrestrial Military Craft, Scanning, Copyright & Citation Information, Obtain Duplications of Records and Photos. 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. I served aboad the USS . 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. 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. 2 16-inch gun turret aboard the Iowa (BB-61). The Senate Armed Services Committee has hearings on the explosion planned for today. Post 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. 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. 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. Flash! Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage, smoke and gas erupted from the rangefinders on either side of the number two turret. RSS. It was also clear that each 16-inch gun turret required more sailors than the Navy could afford to assign. 2. Also served on USS TENNESSEE, USS KULA GULF (CVE108) and USS FRANK FRIDAY FLETCHER. On June 12, 1924,Mississippi found herself off the coast of California conducting gun trials. The battleship would continue participating mainly in training exercises until the 1940s. I still think we will make it without any casualties.". . Published April 02, 2018 09:40:36. 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. As the rammer was withdrawn, there emerged from the breech a small grayish ball of smoke and flame followed by a large flash. MISSISSIPPI. Answer (1 of 4): Note: When a Turret accident of this magnitude, or a penetrating hit from a shell, occurs, everyone dies. If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Mississippiwas instrumental in the testing and eventual fielding of theConvair RIM-2 Terrier, the U.S. Navys first surface-to-air missile. On June 12, 1924, the MISSISSIPPI, along with the battleships TENNESSEE and IOWA, was engaged in gunnery practice off San Clemente Island. Mississippi provided gunfire support for the Lingayen landings in January 1945 and for the conquest of Okinawa in March-June. 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. 43 killed, 19 injured. 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. Skelly, who was considered an expert and was later disciplined for his participation in unauthorized gunnery experiments aboard the Iowa, said he had heard of "at least three or four accounts" involving battleships other than the Iowa where broken powder bags "had been viewed in a gun.". "This is essentially what happened. Here's the explanation: http://archive . The fleet in Pearl Harbor must have been asleep and I do not mean dozing. All of the crew had been advised to set up allotment accounts for their families. 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. Was on board 1943-45. . 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. This was a wise decision on the part of the captain. "I regret the accident occurred, obviously. 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. I'll bet the Prince took something down with her. 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. 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. What's our Navy doing anyway? 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. The British lost the Prince of Wales and the Repulse. 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. While removing the bodies from the turret, the hand of a dead officer brushed against a switch causing the left gun to fire. 2 turret. Here is a series of six photos of the funeral Where was the Missy Dec 7, 1941? She was commissioned in December 1917, and operated in the western Atlantic area . 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. Mississippiwas a heavily armed battleship by the standards of the day. 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. . You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. The goal of this Brotherton knew something was drastically wrong when he noticed brownish smoke coming from the No. The blast, which killed 47 men on five of the six levels inside the No. A battleship force on station at the northern entrance to Surigao Strait consisting of battleships USS Mississippi, California, and Pennsylvania screened by cruisers USS Phoenix, Boise, Nashville, and HMAS Shropshire along with destroyers Ammen, Bush, Leutze, Newcomb, Bennion, Heywood L. Edwards, Robinson, Richard P. Leary, Bryant, and Claxton came under an intense Japanese air attacking force that included special attack aircraft. "That couldn't have been the case on Iowa," Coles said. United States General Accounting Office. Don't worry about collecting. The shell flew harmlessly out to sea. The mighty warship was 624 feet long with a beam of 97.5 feet, and displaced 33,000 tons fully loaded. "They knew more about guns than everybody else in the Navy put together.". Another 2700 sailors observed the services. Francis Zacharias was only 16 when he enlisted and used his older brother's birth certificate without his parent's knowledge. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. After an extensive preliminary bombardment, the Marine assault force headed towards the beach and Mississippi and the other ships increased their rate of fire. Thank you. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. 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. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. 2. This first appeared in 2019. 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 flames and gases had overcome the men so quickly that recovery crews found many of the men still at their positions. "He hit me on the shoulder one day, and he's like, 'If I ever die, you're going to be a rich man,'" Truitt recalled. The last shell and charge was removed the next day. 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. . You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. Iowa . 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 . Fearing that the same might happen with the remaining gun, the captain moved the MISSISSIPPI outside the breakwater. 2 turret as Carr and other sailors donned their firefighting gear. The recoil severely crushed ten men inside and the salvo narrowly missed an outgoing passenger vessel. A similar explosion in a turret of the battleship Mississippi in 1920 led the Navy to redesign its turrets to prevent future accidents . Then they found two sailors who had been blown from the turret onto the deck. During this time she also conducted search operations for German "raiders" thought to be in the vicinity. 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. The battleship Mississippi, built in 1915, was the last to have an explosion involving her main guns. Lt. Bruce Coles, a spokesman for the Navy, this week discounted the similarities between the accidents aboard the Iowa and the Mississippi. The Navy' s Investigation W.D. We'll see. The scene inside was too terrible to describe. Iowa. Required fields are marked *. 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. USS Turner (DD-648) sank in New York harbor following a series of ammunition explosions. The Invasion of Lingayen Gulf (Filipino: Paglusob sa Golpo ng Lingayen), 6-9 January 1945, was an Allied amphibious operation in the Philippines during World War II.In the early morning of 6 January 1945, a large Allied force commanded by Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf began approaching the shores of Lingayen from Lingayen Gulf, on the island of Luzon. Leaving Norfolk in early January 1942, she then transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Francisco Harbor two weeks later. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. The crew members in the upper chambers of the massive gun turret aboard the USS Iowa were killed by the explosion and fire while sailors working several levels below suffocated when the blast sucked all the oxygen from their chambers, Navy officials said Friday. During the mid-1950s, she was test ship for the Navy's first surface-to-air guided missile, the "Terrier". 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. 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. "USS Mississippi (BB-41) cordite fire in the #2 14-inch gun turret. . 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. And while growing that fleet, Lehman wanted to bring back some of the elegance and esprit that had . Smoldering material left in the gun had ignited the powder charge of the next shot. He said: 'No, it's the same thing my dad did.". The main battery was distributed two turrets forward and two aft. Editorial Guidelines and Publishing Standards. 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. Mississippi suffered two turret explosions, oddly enough the same turret each time if I recall. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USSMississippiwent to war in the Pacific. Official USN photo # DN-ST-89-06800, by LT. I met my life-long friend Dave Welch, got to experience Fleet Week in NYC, and lived through the turret 2 explosion. 1941- Enroute Hvalfordur, Iceland to Portsmouth, Va. At last we are steaming homeward in company with the U.S.S. 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