NAVAL DISASTER
EXPLOSION IN TURRET
AMERICAN BATTLESHIP,
DAMAGED
FORTY KILLED AND TWENTY
INJURED.
(DNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION.—COPYRIGHT.) (REUTEII'S TELEGRAM.) SAN FRANCISCO, 12th June. A telegram from San Pedro, in California, states that 40 men were killed and 20 others were injured when the No. 2 turret of the battleship Mississippi blew up during firing practice. Shortly after the battleship entered the harbour and dropped anchor, a second explosion occurred on board, shaking the "whole district round the harbour, and a 14-inuh shell narrowly missed the passenger steamer Yale at ths harbour entrance. ■Naval officers refuse to comment on the disaster, and a rigid censorship is being maintained. According to official information, four powder bags, each containing 450 pounds iof explosive, were inside the gun turret. ! According to 'one of the surviving sailors, the 14-inch gun that ignited the powder supply was practising firing at extreme elevation firing, the idea being to take advantage of the battleship's roll or list to the opposite maximum altitude.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 140, 14 June 1924, Page 7
Word Count
163NAVAL DISASTER Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 140, 14 June 1924, Page 7
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