USSMississippi(BB-41) was the second of three ships of theNew Mexico-classbattleships. After an extensive preliminary bombardment, the Marine assault force headed towards the beach andMississippiand the other ships increased their rate of fire. During 40 years of service, US Navy battleship . Official USN photo # DN-ST-89-06800, by LT. W.D. 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. Here's the explanation: http://archive . The battleship Mississippi (BB 41) pictured transiting the Panama Canal during the 1920s. Battleships USS Idaho, USS Mississippi, and USS New Mexico, escorted by 2 cruisers and 13 destroyers, were dispatched to patrol the Denmark Strait to protect American merchant shipping. Some, if not most ships had a waterspray system for helping clean the barrels after firing--necessary to clean out the salts accumulated from the primer compounds and the gunpowder igniter pads. US Navy battleship USS Mississippi in Hampton Roads, Virginia, June 4, 1927. Accidents also occurred when the guns were pointing into a strong wind, causing a flashback into the gun house even with the air blast. She was redesignated AG-128 and equipped with a number of radars and prototype air defense missile systems. 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. By the way, my uncle's name was Francis Zacharias. 2 turret of the battleship USS Mississippi in 1943 that killed 43 sailors was caused by a "flareback" when unexpelled gases from a previous round ignited powder bags. 2s 14-inch guns went off again. USS Mississippi (BB-41/AG-128), a New Mexico-class battleship, was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 20th state, and the second battleship to carry the name.Commissioned in 1917, too late to serve in World War I, she served extensively in the Pacific in World War II, for which she earned eight battle stars.She was one of several pre-war battleships that . Smoldering material left in the gun had ignited the powder charge of the next shot. 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. National Security. This could have led to dangerous debris remaining in the breech when the gun crew assumed it was safe to load. "If this story sounds familiar, it's because this is kind of the oldest story ever told around the U.S. Prewar and during the Pacific War located in the Gilbert Islands. The commissioning ceremony aboard the USS Iowa, Feb. 22, 1943. But unlike other explosions, the 16-inch gun in the No. We'll see. Your email address will not be published. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. Out of commission? Of her complement, 1026 officers and men were killed, including Rear-Admiral Hood. 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. 2. She was present in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, when Japan formally surrendered and returned to the United States soon thereafter. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives . She was bombed from the air. The MISSISSIPPI was once again with the Pacific Fleet. Second, it is to showcase It was one of the worst disasters suffered by the Navy during peacetime. The fleet in Pearl Harbor must have been asleep and I do not mean dozing. Maybe I will get to see Hotel Street after all. If Germany has declared war on the U.S., they should be bombing Iceland soon.". They are thick, alright. Investigators also found that some access safety doors inside the turret had been left partly open. Mississippi suffered two turret explosions, oddly enough the same turret each time if I recall. . When his body was discovered, his hand was still clutching the flood control. Forty-eight sailors were killed, and only one of the sailors manning the turret survived. turret II as the crew loaded the gun. 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. The U.S.A. is now at war with Germany, Japan, and Italy. "The gun where the explosion occurred had not fired" that day. It was during this period, when on special training maneuvers, that tragedy struck the ship. Fortunately for him and his crew, his ship was anchored at Hvalfordur on the fateful morning of December 7, 1941. She returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume her earlier pattern of regular exercises, Fleet Problems and training. The following video remembers those. 1920's (U.S. Navy photo) 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. Hartwig who died in the blast had planted a bomb in the gun. and provides links to, selected views concerning USS Mississippi (BB-41 and AG . Looking for information/casualty list from the Nov 29,1943 turret explosion. Forty-two sailors were killed and another sixteen wounded. This guy served on the USS MISSISSIPPI and USS NEVADA from 1917-1919. Mississippi. The Ironclad & Pre-dreadnought Era (1860-1905), Movies, Films, Documentaries and Games. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. Forty-two sailors were killed and another sixteen wounded. You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. Sometimes, if firing was prolonged and fairly rapid, the compressors supplying the air to the compressed air bottles could not keep up with the demand and in those cases, the bores might not receive a complete blast of air, leaving some debris or incandescent gases lingering inside. 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. As a battleship, the Mississippi was heavily armored to slug it out with enemy ships. The last explosion was so strong that it blew the turret's two-ton hatch off its hinges and into the water, he said. DD-770 General Specifications. Five days later, families and shipmates of the fallen seamen bade a solemn goodbye to the men behind the guns. In 1943, she took part operations against Kiska Island, in the Aleutians, and in the capture of the Gilbert Islands. Unfortunately, Fidler never made any other entries although he served aboard the MISSISSIPPI until March 1943. Seconds before Turret No. Despite knowing how to solve the problem, the same accident happened two times over 20 years. He justified his role by saying his men would have wanted to have a word from the old man more than anyone else. 1943 - 1943: 9: My father, A.A. Frye was an anti-aircraft gunner's mate on the starboard side. 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. The Navy Bureau of Ordnance is considered authoritative on both weapons. 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. In 1943, she took part operations against Kiska Island, in the Aleutians, and in the capture of the Gilbert Islands. 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. Iowa. Sandia investigators asked if two similar explosions on the battleship USS Mississippi could be related to the Iowa explosion. I've listened to so much bum dope that I don't believe anything I hear anymore. Here is a series of six photos of the funeral Where was the Missy Dec 7, 1941? He said: "It's no big deal. "That's sort of what started the whole thing.". During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 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. This need not have happened. 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. ww2dbaseMississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. Leaving Norfolk in early January 1942, she then transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Francisco Harbor two weeks later. Mississippiwas instrumental in the testing and eventual fielding of theConvair RIM-2 Terrier, the U.S. Navys first surface-to-air missile. On 19 April 1989, the Iowa. Was on board 1943-45. . During the mid-1950s, she was test ship for the Navy's first surface-to-air guided missile, the "Terrier". Ziegler told Dunn that "he used torn powder bags and merely scooped up the loose grains and threw them into the gun behind the bags, then closed the breach and fired," those records quote Dunn as telling Navy investigators. Assigned to USS IOWA Commissioning Crew on 22 February 1943. On 19 April 1989, 47 crewmen were killed in an explosion in the Number Two gun turret on the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). "USS Mississippi (BB-41) cordite fire in the #2 14-inch gun turret. Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean departed Pago Pago, Samoa bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Brotherton knew something was drastically wrong when he noticed brownish smoke coming from the No. "The powder door was still open to the center gun that armored hatch was still open," Carr said. --another violation of regulations. The turret explosion was captured by a camera mounted in one of the USS Iowa's towers. Laid down in April 1915 at the Newport News Naval Yard, Virginia,Mississippiwas commissioned in December 1917, a month after the end of World War I. The 1943 incident was virtually identical, and the Bureau of Ordnance . Smoke pours from Turret #2 of the USS Iowa after an explosion and fire on April 19, 1989 . Pictured are A and B Turrets of the ' USS Mississippi ' . 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. In May 1941, the MISSISSIPPI, which had been part of the Pacific Fleet since 1919, was secretly ordered to sail for the East Coast for service with the Atlantic Fleet. Forty-eight men died of asphyxiation as a result of the explosion. 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. 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. ww2dbaseDuring 1931-33 , Mississippi underwent a major modernization that gave her an all-new superstructure, improved armament and enhanced protection. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. He said the final technical report on the Iowa explosions had been released to Congress; a congressional source said it concluded that gunner's mate Clayton Hartwig, who died in the blasts, put a bomb made of chemicals into the breech and the bomb exploded and ignited the powder and propellant when compressed by the rammer. 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. Available for both RF and RM licensing. In 1943, the big battleship was off the coast of Makin Island, providing naval gunfire support to a . Mississippi provided gunfire support for the Lingayen landings in January 1945 and for the conquest of Okinawa in March-June. 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 . Even before the sailors caskets could be shipped to their hometowns, the court of inquiry was underway. 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. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. In 1943, she took part operations against Kiska Island, in the Aleutians, and in the capture of the Gilbert Islands. USS Mississippi and USS West Virginia departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the latter after extensive repairs and modernization following damage received in the Pearl Harbor Attack. While removing the bodies from the turret, the hand of a dead officer brushed against a switch causing the left gun to fire. 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 guns' lubricants were the next to ignite, he said. Thank you. Post I got this little group of items that belong to someone who served on the USS MISSISSIPPI and thought this would be a good place to show them. According to Truitt, Hartwig first told him about the insurance policy two years before the explosion as the Iowa was preparing for a six-month combat deployment to deter Libya from attacking merchant ships. 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 . I'll bet the Prince took something down with her. RLoret 1 yr. ago. 3 January 1944. Decommissioned in September 1956, USS Mississippi was sold for scrapping in November of that year, after almost forty years of service. 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. I met my life-long friend Dave Welch, got to experience Fleet Week in NYC, and lived through the turret 2 explosion. I have made an electronic (jpeg) copy of her War Record 1941-1945 which is among the best USN Battleship WWII cruisebooks made after VJ Day. "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! According to the findings from a 1944 investigation by the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, the explosion in turret No. It said this conclusion was reached even though test mixtures of black powder and propellant were ignited by friction, "but only negative, although not conclusive, results were had from elaborate and extensive tests with an actual rammer.". by tommy303 Thu Apr 03, 2014 11:55 pm, Post 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. The General Accounting Office and both House and Senate armed services committees are reviewing the Navy's investigation. He is the founder and editor for the blogs Japan Security Watch, Asia Security Watch and War Is Boring. 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. At the time of her commissioning in 1943, the USS Iowa was one of the world's most formidable war machines. Because there were still unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. "Cover-up aboard the USS Iowa" (PDF). Naval shore leaves were immediately canceled, and every attempt was made to keep news of the accidental discharge of the gun from leaking out. The Mississippi enjoyed a reputation for collecting gunnery awards, and the day before had hit 52 out of 55 targets. Mississippi was a heavily armed battleship by the standards of the day. I'm trying to find out the fate of an uncle who was on the ship and . July 29, 2009 in EPHEMERA, PHOTOGRAPHS & MILITARY ARTWORK. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. This was a wise decision on the part of the captain. Class: Allen M. Sumner class destroyer Named for: Reigart Bolivar Lowry Complement: 336 Officers and Enlisted Displacement: 2200 tons Length: 376 feet 6 inches Beam: 40 feet Flank Speed: 34 knots Range: 6500 Nautical Miles Final Disposition:Scrapped October 1996 This is a compilation of Special Report cut-ins from ABC News during the early afternoon hours, in the aftermath of the deadly explosion aboard the USS Iowa . I heard family stories about my uncle being killed in a turret explosion on the USS Mississippi but I had no details about the events leading to and following the explosion. USS Mississippi was commissioned into service. 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. 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