Note, however, he is identified as Frederick. Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage, smoke and gas erupted from the rangefinders on either side of the number two turret. It was a foreseeable result of lack of training and the running . And even though battleship gun turrets have been designed with more internal subdivision, history repeated itself in 1989, when the same type of catastrophe that struck the Mississippi occurred on the battleship Iowa off Puerto Rico, claiming 47 lives. In June 1941, in response to the deteriorating war situation in Europe, she was brought back to the Atlantic, operating between the United States and Iceland during much of the rest of that year. TURRET TWO: DAMAGE CONTROL MEASURES FOLLOWING THE EXPLOSION . ww2dbaseIn early 1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mississippi rejoined the Pacific Fleet. 2, the ship was anchored just inside the breakwater. 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. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Your uncle is the last named MISSISSIPPI sailor. "If this story sounds familiar, it's because this is kind of the oldest story ever told around the U.S. 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. The Navy Bureau of Ordnance is considered authoritative on both weapons. The old warship was decommissioned in 1956, sold for scrap. USS Mississippi (BB-41), during combat operations off Makin, Gilbert Islands, suffers cordite explosion in #2 14-inch gun turret. 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. The MISSISSIPPI and her sister ships of Battleship Division Three represented most of the remaining battleship strength in the U.S. Navy. The blast, which killed 47 men on five of the six levels inside the No. 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. In this role, she carried a variety of old and new guns and radars, while serving with the Operational Development Force in the Atlantic. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. Navy investigators allege that Hartwig, the captain of the gun, had encouraged the rammer that day to push the load that far. As the rammer was withdrawn, there emerged from the breech a small grayish ball of smoke and flame followed by a large flash. 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. . They further claimed Hartwig became suicidal because he and Truitt who was married at the time had been lovers but Truitt had rebuffed him. Mississippi sailed from San Pedro 19 October to take part in the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. Iowa . 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. . "I held one [sailor] in my hands as he passed," Carr said. Forty-eight sailors were killed, and only one of the sailors manning the turret survived. 1. 2 turret aboard the battleship Mississippi, which also claimed 47 lives. 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. We just outran several units of the German fleet (submarines). Capt. 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. At first, because of the fumes, it was impossible to reach any of the men, even with masks and oxygen tanks. The yard long is dated 1942. The old warship was decommissioned in 1956, sold for scrap. The firing rocked the whole harbor district, shattering windows and critically injuring four men who were caught behind the recoiling gun. Mississippi was instrumental in the testing and eventual fielding of the Convair RIM-2 Terrier, the U.S. Navys first surface-to-air missile. During gunnery practice on 12 June 1924, she suffered a turret fire that took the lives of 48 of her crew. At roughly one horsepower per ton, she was not terribly fast, with a top speed of just twenty-one knots. USS Mississippi (BB-41) was the second of three ships of the New Mexico-class battleships. July 29, 2009 in EPHEMERA, PHOTOGRAPHS & MILITARY ARTWORK. She was redesignated AG-128 and equipped with a number of radars and prototype air defense missile systems. If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. The MISSISSIPPI was once again with the Pacific Fleet. On the clear, crisp, windy afternoon of June 12, 1924, a few minutes before noon, the 7-year-old vessel, was involved in intense mock warfare maneuvers 40 miles south of Los Angeles with two other Pacific Fleet battleships, the Tennessee and the Idaho. Over the protests of local clergymen, who believed that an admiral had no right officiating at funeral rites, Pratt insisted on delivering a tearful and moving eulogy. On June 12, 1924, there was an explosion in the USS Mississippi's No. Later in the year, she was part of the force that invaded Peleliu and Leyte and defeated a Japanese task force in the Battle of Surigao Strait. Lt. Bruce Coles, a spokesman for the Navy, this week discounted the similarities between the accidents aboard the Iowa and the Mississippi. Although each barrel was blasted between firings with pressurized air to evacuate debris, the middle barrel of each turret received a lower pressure burst than the left and right barrels. National Security. . She also featured twelve 5-inch/51 caliber guns, eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes. You need to play a total of 20 battles to post in this section. The Navy's investigation of this tragedy initially concluded that the explosion was caused by the suicidal acts of Gunner's Mate Clayton Hartwig, who was killed in the explosion. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives. Island Hopping . by paul.mercer Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:12 am, Post But unlike other explosions, the 16-inch gun in the No. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw and McKean departed Suva, Fiji bound for Pago Pago, Samoa. "It's a classic example of Navy leaders not being willing to speak truth to power and make the hard decisions," Carroll said. "I regret the accident occurred, obviously. Despite her forty years of service, Mississippi was bound to tragedy, experiencing two major accidents in the same turret, in the same gun, twenty years apart. 2 turret. Trying to contain it.'". Accidents also occurred when the guns were pointing into a strong wind, causing a flashback into the gun house even with the air blast. (Photo: Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection) . See attached. Mississippi sustained a turret explosion that killed 43 people. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. US Battleship Turret Explosions 1904-1989. Almost instantly, forty-five men and three officers were dead from asphyxiation. Please refrain from using strong language. We'll see. The deck was armored to 3.5 inches and the conning tower to sixteen inches. New Photos Might Show Ukraines Drones Can Strike Deep Into Russia, Could Jail Stop Donald Trump from Becoming President Again? In order to place the present memorial over the ship, a section of the boat deck that rested over the galley amidships was cut away. Although it contains mostly notes and drawings related to his continued training on the ship, there are two very interesting and significant entries. On June 12, 1924,Mississippi found herself off the coast of California conducting gun trials. During 1931-33 , Mississippi underwent a major modernization that gave her an all-new superstructure, improved armament and enhanced protection. Forty-three sailors died. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. 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. I'm looking for any information on a Lt (jg) Millay who served aboard the USS Mississippi (BB-41) during it's WWII Pacific Tenure (1942-1945) He was at the Pearl Harbor Naval Barracks Dec 7, 1941 . 2 turrets periscope holes, even as the ships other guns continued firing. Although each barrel was blasted between firings with pressurized air to evacuate debris, the middle barrel of each turret received a lower pressure burst than the left and right barrels. 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. This could have led to dangerous debris remaining in the breech when the gun crew assumed it was safe to load. he Washington Post reported in September 1989. Don't worry about collecting. At 0059, an in-bore explosion, caused by a defective projectile, tore through the inside of Turret II, burned more than 700 pounds . Nov 1, 2021, 1:18 PM. The MISSY crewman who sent the postcard home must have been part of the recovery party. He said: 'No, it's the same thing my dad did.". She spent most of 1942 along the U.S. west coast and went to the South Pacific late in that year. Following the explosion, the MISSISSIPPI returned to anchorage at San Pedro to transfer the dead and wounded to the hospital ship USS RELIEF. After the explosion, Truitt mentioned the insurance policy in passing to Hartwig's family. The MISSISSIPPI was part of the covering force for convoys and lines of communications in the North Atlantic. 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. Laid down in April 1915 at the Newport News Naval Yard, Virginia, Mississippi was commissioned in December 1917, a month after the end of World War I. Meanwhile, Mississippi and Nashville had to take emergency evasive actions to avoid the torpedoes. Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage . Returning to Pearl Harbor in March 1943, . . 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. The powder ignited the first of two explosions that would rock the ship from stem to stern. In this part I will briefly describe . Truitt was in the magazine below the No. At the time of her commissioning in 1943, the USS Iowa was one of the world's most formidable war machines. This was a wise decision on the part of the captain. The gunners on all three battlewagons were competing for a $20 prize that Congress had voted to award the fleets most proficient naval marksman. "This is essentially what happened. Mississippiwas instrumental in the testing and eventual fielding of theConvair RIM-2 Terrier, the U.S. Navys first surface-to-air missile. 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. USS Ammen sustained a glancing blow from a Yokosuka P1Y 'Francis' that caused considerable topside damage and killed 5 men. The damaged 33,000-ton dreadnought headed back to port. The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. 3. Pictured are A and B Turrets of the ' USS Mississippi ' . 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. This cool kids outdoors club will introduce you to L.A.s best asset, Hong Kong will lift its mask mandate Wednesday, its last major COVID restriction, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures, Burbank aborted landing was latest close call for U.S. flights. 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. He had instinctively closed the doors to the ammunition hoist and flooded the magazines. During gunnery practice on 12 June 1924, she suffered a turret fire that took the lives of 48 of her crew. Ward Carroll, a naval aviator who was a spokesman for the Naval Safety Center at the time. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. US MILITARIA FORUM - COLLECTORS PRESERVING HISTORY The fleet in Pearl Harbor must have been asleep and I do not mean dozing. 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. 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 . 2 Turret was cold, meaning it hadn't been fired yet. The Senator from Michigan has asked for a Court Martial of leading admirals and in the 14th Naval District. Sandia investigators asked if two similar explosions on the battleship USS Mississippi could be related to the Iowa explosion. 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 Senate Armed Services Committee has hearings on the explosion planned for today. USS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. Navy officials say technical experts conducted more than 20,000 tests on bags of powder taken from the Iowa last spring, including attempts to create an explosion through friction. Almost immediately upon his assignment to the ship, he found himself in the midst of the war, although the U.S. was "officially" neutral at the time. The waterspray system was not, if I recall, used to clear the bore between shots, just the compressed air blast. 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 Mississippi enjoyed a reputation for collecting gunnery awards, and the day before had hit 52 out of 55 targets. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives. The investigations produced conflicting conclusions. USS Mississippi arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. 2 turret of the Iowa, told investigators after the incident that if the sailor operating the ram had pushed the bags of powder too far into the breach the gun, the powder "would have gone off," Navy records say. 2, the ship was anchored just inside the breakwater. Today her name lives on in the Virginia class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Mississippi (SSN-782). The battleship was damaged by suicide planes in both operations. 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. Decommissioned in September 1956, USS Mississippi was sold for scrapping in November of that year, after almost forty years of service. 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 . Carr was wearing headphones that allowed him to hear what the crews in the other turrets were saying. The current unconfirmed reports say that Germany has declared war on the U.S., which doesn't make much difference. 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. United States General Accounting Office. 1941- Enroute Hvalfordur, Iceland to Portsmouth, Va. At last we are steaming homeward in company with the U.S.S. "The sad thing is I understand what they were doing and why they were doing it," Truitt told Task & Purpose. Battleship Mississippi (BB-41) Interactive Map. After an extensive preliminary bombardment, the Marine assault force headed towards the beach and Mississippi and the other ships increased their rate of fire. 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. 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. It's easy! 3 January 1944. Hartwig who died in the blast had planted a bomb in the gun. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. 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.". Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw and McKean arrived at Pago Pago, Samoa. Prewar and during the Pacific War located in the Gilbert Islands. 1919-1940, by Harvey M. Beigel. It wasn't long after the Iowa returned home that the Navy seemed to be looking for someone to blame the disaster on. On June 12, 1924,Mississippifound herselfoff the coast of California conducting gun trials. Original Reporting. Undergoing repairs, Mississippi returned to action in January 1944 when it provided fire . 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 . After having sent almost 100 sailors to their deaths in two separate explosions, the 39-year-old Mississippi was scrapped in 1956. The recoil severely crushed ten men inside and the salvo narrowly missed an outgoing passenger vessel. ww2dbaseUSS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. I heard they are going to put up a telephone line from Portsmouth, Virginia, to Hvalfordur, Iceland, using the periscopes for poles. During the mid-1950s, she was test ship for the Navy's first surface-to-air guided missile, the "Terrier". On April 16, 1989 there was an explosion in a gun turret on the U.S.S. Seaman First Class Fidler was just seventeen years old when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. fully into the war. The aging battlewagon had served longer than most ships at the time, but it had also experienced two rare tragedies, in the same place, under similar circumstances. 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. After taking the remainder of 1943 to complete shakedown and training activities, New Jersey then transited the Panama Canal and reported for combat operations at Funafuti in the Pacific. Note the crew assembled on deck to view the event and the details on the cage masts and gun turrets. According to the findings from a 1944 investigation by the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, the explosion in turret No. Prince of Wales and H.M.S. C. Peter Chen of Lava Development, LLC. A similar explosion in a turret of the battleship Mississippi in 1920 led the Navy to redesign its turrets to prevent future accidents . 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