FATAL BOILER EXPLOSION

Otago Witness, Issue 2600, 13 January 1904, Page 15

FATAL BOILER EXPLOSION

DISASTER ON H.M.S. WALLAROO. SYDNEY, January 7. By an explosion of one of the boilers of H.M.S. Wallaroo 45 persons were killed. A wire from Montague Island reports the explosion of one of the boilers of the warship Wallaroo, and that 45 men were killed. The news came from the lighthousekeeper at the island, who reports that the Wallaroo passed this forenoon en route for Sydney going dead slow. Ihe Wallaroo is expected to arrive at Sydney on Friday morning. She asked to have ambulances in readiness. The Wallaroo left Sydney on December 27 for Jervois Bay, en route for

Hobarfc to join the other vessels cf the squadron. It is not likely any details of the catastrophe will be available till the Wallaroo's arrival in Sydney tomorrow. It is supposed the explosion on the 'Wallaroo occurred white doing a full speed, trial. A wire received by the pepartment of Navigation gives the number of killed as •43, and asks that ambulances be in readiness for tare* persons. The news regarding the Wallaroo disaster created a profound sensation. The flags were half-masted. The naval authorities will endeavour to have the signals repeated when the Wallaroo passes Jervois Bay. There is a hope that the signal regarding the casualties was misread. The Wallaroo passed Jervois Bay about 8 o'clock to-night. No signals ■were received. She will probably arrive about daylight. January 8. An official message from the Wallaroo states that only four men were killed and three injured. The vessel was on her first long-steam-ing trial since her overhaul, and the crew had only recently arrived by the Diadem. The Admiral is at present in Hobart. He is the recipient of numerous messages of condolence from all parts of the ■world. The accident was caused by the bursting of a steam pipe. Those killed were Tburied at sea. ■ All the killed and injured were stokers. One man was killed outright, and the three others succumbed to the .effects of the- " scalding steam. Seven others were injured — three seriously, •who are not expected to recover, and four slightly. The explosion occurred on Wednesday afternoon during a fuufcpeed trial. i The names of the killed are G. E. Hall j (chief stoker), C. E. Ellis, Frank Moore, and Wilfred Cleal. The seriously injured are W. J. Sandow, Thomas Pretty, and B. J. Atkins, all stokers. The explosion occurred when about | £00 miles en route to Hobart. There "was no loud report, only a sound as of - the boiler being blown off. With a rush the steam escaped, and i£ was at once apparent ' something serious had occurred. A party of anxious bluejackets and petty officers made a rush to get below to help their mates, but the steam repulsed them. men from up the hatchway men came rushing and screaming in their agony, the chief stoker (Hall) dreadfully burned about the face and blind. In a sightless condition he had rushed through the engine room and to the deck above., only to fall and die shortly afterwards. The only man killed out straight was Moore. As soon as possible a relief party got below. The stokehole was found flooded to a depth of two feet by boiling water. In this the body of the ■unfortunate man was washed from side to side. The corpse had practically been poiled. Two other men, named Ellis and Cleal, also got out of the stokehole, only to succumb to their injuries within a few tours. Of those injured Sandow is in a serious condition. The other men are progressing favourably. It was found on examining the boiler on the port side forward that the combustion chamber had buckled right in and the whole boiler stays had been torn out of position. Heroic efforts were made by the ■engineering staff under the chief engineer and Lieutenant Glasspole to get below. They were repeatedly driven back. Streams of wyter poured into the stokehole finally enabled the party to face it. Lieutenant Giasspole was badly blistered by the steam. ! The Tauranga was in company with j the Wallaroo at the time of the accident, and sent a doctor and nursing staff aboard. The Tauranga stood by till •the Wallaroo resumed her voyage to jSvdney in a crippled condition at the reduced speed of six miles an hour. When the men who jumped from the deck below at the first sign of disaster reached the stokehole they fouud the "body of a stoker lying in boiling water •on the floor. The worst of the steam had escaped. A single glance sufficed to show that the great boiler had belched its load of scalding steam and water out upon the unfortunates feed- i

iug the furnaces. Son tcot=: were thrown down to tb.2 re.. c 1.0 party, and, Laving donned the-e, they j-1 ;ij.cd into the boiling water, from vniich th^y quickly pulled the body cf thp s toner Moore. All the ether ttokcrs Ivd made their escape or been rescued.

When it hnd been a^ccrtrined tJTit all bad escaped or been token, out, the engineers sent flushes of salt water through the stokehole to cool it off. Then a thorough iu^pecticii was mac 1 ". It was found' that the top of the ccmbuftion chamber had collapsed, allowing the contents of the boiler to escape into the furnace. The steam here acted as an injector and forced the boilLig water out into the stokehole, blowing the ashpan with great force up against the bulkhead several feet away. It is surmised the ashpan st ruc^ Moore, killing him instantly. The stokehole was at onco filled with escaping steam and boiling water, and there was literally no escape for the men who happened to be at that end of the boiler. They were knocked down by the steam into the water below, and only their great nerve and hardihood permitted them to escape by ways they knew so well from the inferno. The men at the other end of the boiler were enabled to scramble into comparative safety. Albert Dorren, ihe stoker who escaped -with a scalded arm, stated: There are four boilers on the ship — two fired at the fore end and two at the after end. I was working with five others aft, while forward were the men who were killed and injured. I can't tell how it happened. I heard no explosion. There was just a noise as 'of steam being blown off on the boilers. The next instant there was a rush of steam and fire along the passage way. Stoker Pretty was more directly in the line of fire. He was blown from my side, while I was knocked backwards and fell over a bucket. I scrambled to the nearest bunker, crept inside, and threw myself face downwards on the coal. It occurred to me that, the steam would rise and by keeping low down I would escape. It was only a few seconds before the steam had almost gone, but after it canie the boiling water. I knew from what had happened us aft that the unfortunate fellows in the fore stokehole were done for. By stepping on pieces of coal 1 managed to get along the passage to the other stokehole. Some others managed to reach the deck, but there were still two who were badly scalded. Fortunately there was plenty of aid, and they were rescued as soon as possible, though so badly injured that they died before night. Except for the presence of water, which was soon pumped out, the stokehole showed no signs >of the terrible tragedy.

It is believed the mistake niade over the Wallaroo's signal was -due to lack of acquaintance on the part of the lighthouse keeper with the comparatively new code. January 10. Sandow,' one of the firemen of H.M.S. Wallaroo who was injured in the recent explosion, is in a precarious state, but the other sufferers are progressing favourably. January 11. The inquiry into the Wallaroo disaster was opened aboard the Mildura. It is held with closed doors. LONDON, January 8. Intense suspense was felt at Devonport about the Wallaroo until the news was received which minimised the disaster. The officers of H.M.S. Wallaroo are: — Captain John G. Hevvett, Lieutenants Clarence W. Trelawney, Charles F. Ivlansel, William H. Lcadbotter, Sub-lieutenant Alfred B. Watts, Engine-er-heutenants William Glasspole, William A. Donovan, Paymaster William E. Stenhens, Lieutenant (R.N.E.) Oscar G. Richardson, Gunner Alfred Lsfevrs, and Caipenter John C. Sale.