United States General Accounting Office. Leaving Norfolk in early January 1942, she then transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Francisco Harbor two weeks later. 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 . Abner Read jettisoned her torpedoes which immediately began their runs toward other ships in the group. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. Warships, naval battles, technology, weapons, navies of all eras, modeling, etc. "We all knew each other rather intimately.". After overhaul at San Francisco. 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. She returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume her earlier pattern of regular exercises, Fleet Problems and training. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. 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 . Two major investigations were undertaken into the cause of the explosion, one by the U.S. Navy and then one by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Sandia National Laboratories. 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. RLoret 1 yr. ago. She returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume her earlier pattern of regular exercises, Fleet Problems and training. 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. The main battery was distributed two turrets forward and two aft. Mississippiwas a heavily armed battleship by the standards of the day. Forty-two sailors were killed and another sixteen wounded. 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. Second, it is to showcase By lofar_dog, September 14, 2016 in Battleship Era Black smoke poured out from the burning No. (Photo: U.S. Navy) President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, had a dream in the early 1980s: A 600-ship fleet. For example, Hartwig had not been responsible for loading the gun, as the Navy initially claimed. 20 November 1943." Battleship USS Missouri - Official Website NavSource - USS Missouri (BB-41) "The powder door was still open to the center gun that armored hatch was still open," Carr said. During 1931-33 , Mississippi underwent a major modernization that gave her an all-new superstructure, improved armament and enhanced protection. 2 turret aboard the battleship Mississippi, which also claimed 47 lives. Flash! Mississippi. They are considered buried at sea by the US Navy. "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. Note, however, he is identified as Frederick. This guy served on the USS MISSISSIPPI and USS NEVADA from 1917-1919. Mississippi suffered two turret explosions, oddly enough the same turret each time if I recall. The ship was built at the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia, from her keel laying in April 1915, her launching. The shell flew harmlessly out to sea. New Photos Might Show Ukraines Drones Can Strike Deep Into Russia, Could Jail Stop Donald Trump from Becoming President Again? The USS Iowa turret explosion occurred in the Number Two 16inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USSIowa(BB61) on 19 April 1989. MISSISSIPPI. The Iowa was commissioned in 1943. In this role, she carried a variety of old and new guns and radars, while serving with the Operational Development Force in the Atlantic. Today her name lives on in the Virginia class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Mississippi (SSN-782). Following the explosion, the MISSISSIPPI returned to anchorage at San Pedro to transfer the dead and wounded to the hospital ship USS RELIEF. 2 gun turret, left two fully loaded gun barrels in the same . After the war, Mississippi was effectively defanged, with three of her four main battery turrets removed. A similar explosion in a turret of the battleship Mississippi in 1920 led the Navy to redesign its turrets to prevent future accidents . ww2dbaseIn early 1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mississippi rejoined the Pacific Fleet. C. Peter Chen of Lava Development, LLC. Rather than admitting that the age of the battleship was over, Navy leaders cut corners on training, manpower, and maintenance to get theIowaback out to sea, he said. "Interestingly, I was never read my rights, nor did I realize that I was a suspect," Truitt told Task & Purpose. The MISSISSIPPI was part of the covering force for convoys and lines of communications in the North Atlantic. 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. At roughly one horsepower per ton, she was not terribly fast, with a top speed of just twenty-one knots. 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. Here's the explanation: http://archive . The ceremony was held at San Pedro, California on 17 June 1924. Two major investigations were undertaken into the cause of the explosion, one by the U.S. Navy and then one by the General Accounting . . An inquiry found that there had been inadequate air pressure forced through the gun to expel the incandescent gases and other flammable residue after firing. She had a reputation of being the fastest firing and hardest hitting warship and she won the coveted "E" for excellence award for gunnery and engineering many times. BB-41 suffered another turret explosion killing 43 men 20 November 1943 off Makin Island. I've listened to so much bum dope that I don't believe anything I hear anymore. This freed up the name USS Mississippi (BB-41) for one of twelve "standard type" battleships, designed with a similar armor scheme, speed, and main armament in order to operate together. 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. The accident has been a major influence on my life. 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. 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. 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 . "They were trying to build up the Navy. Please refrain from using strong language. Hartwig who died in the blast had planted a bomb in the gun. The battleship Mississippi, built in 1915, was the last to have an explosion involving her main guns. The explosion tore through the No. You're 19, I'm 23, it's going to be a while.' Battleship USS Mississippi, cruiser USS Minneapolis, and destroyers USS Shaw, Boggs, and McKean departed Pago Pago, Samoa bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Decommissioned in September 1956, USS Mississippi was sold for scrapping in November of that year, after almost forty years of service. 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. He already had policies that named his parents and another friend as beneficiaries. She was redesignated AG-128 and equipped with a number of radars and prototype air defense missile systems. "Dec. 10. Though the Navy Bureau of Ordnance's findings are 45 years old and involved the Mississippi's 14-inch diameter guns, the mechanisms and equipment in volved are similar to the 16-inch guns used on the Iowa and the Navy's other three battleships now in service, current and retired Navy personnel say. They have been throwing torpedoes at us for the past four months. USSMississippi(BB-41) was the second of three ships of theNew Mexico-classbattleships. * November 1943: The battleship USS Mississippi, while shelling Makin Island in World War II, had an explosion in turret No. On June 12, 1924, the MISSISSIPPI, along with the battleships TENNESSEE and IOWA, was engaged in gunnery practice off San Clemente Island. USS Mississippi arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. Very informative. 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. Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage, smoke and gas erupted from the rangefinders on either side of the number two turret. Your email address will not be published. The hand of a dead crewman in the number two turret accidentally hit the firing switch for the port gun, firing it. First, it is aiming to offer interesting 47 men were killed. Destroyers report there are six subs in back of us. Official USN photo # DN-ST-89-06800, by LT. Here is one of my postings from another collecting forum. Nearly twenty yearsand a major refit laterthe USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. H.M.S. When his body was discovered, his hand was still clutching the flood control. Forty-seven coffins were arranged on the field. 3 other similar ships, the USS New Jersey, the USS Wisconsin, and the USS Missouri were built at the same time. Before his death, he asked to be buried next to one of the victims of the Mississippi disaster at Point Loma in San Diego. TURRET TWO: DAMAGE CONTROL MEASURES FOLLOWING THE EXPLOSION . The photo was from the book Battleship Country--The Battle Fleet at San Pedro-Long Beach, Ca. The goal of this Less than two decades later, the Mississippi went through the same agony again. He said: 'No, it's the same thing my dad did.". Investigators also found that some access safety doors inside the turret had been left partly open. Was on board 1943-45. . In a chilling reprise of the 1924 disaster, another turret explosion occurred on Nov. 29, 1943 near Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands, killing 43 men. Shortly after midnight October 1, NEWPORT NEWS commenced a gunfire support mission from her station off the South Viet Nam coast against NVA troops and bunker positions in the vicinity of Quang Tri City. by tommy303 Fri Apr 04, 2014 5:30 pm, Post "Thus helping Kendall suddenly become a suspect," Truitt said. Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage . As a battleship, the Mississippi was heavily armored to slug it out with enemy ships. A Marine rifle squad fired three volleys. At the time of her commissioning in 1943, the USS Iowa was one of the world's most formidable war machines. USS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. 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. ww2dbaseMississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. This first appeared in 2019. When we're doing a shot with more than three shells, you would stage powder bags inside the powder flats. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. "They were the real gun experts," said retired Rear Adm. Gene LaRocque, a former battleship captain and the founder of the Center for Defense Information in Washington. The accident occurred when rescuers were removing the body of the gun pointer, who was found sitting at his post with his finger still on the trigger. 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. Carr was eventually able to climb into the wrecked turret. Two hundred sailors of each battleship of Battleship Division 4 were present. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. The battleships three remaining turrets continued firing until the naval support phase of the invasion had ended. 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. 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