USS Missouri (BB-11) Turret Fire, 13 April 1904

(102 total words in this text)
(3643 Reads)

On 13 April 1904, while engaging in target practice, a twelve-inch gun in USS Missouri's after turret "flared back" hot gasses into the turret when the breech was opened for reloading. A bag of propellant was set afire and the conflagration spread from the turret into the ammunition handling chamber below. Though the fire was confined to those two areas, it took the lives of 36 of the ship's officers and crew. It also demonstrated the dangers of contemporary gun and ammunition handling arrangements and spurred corrections to both that significantly reduced the risk of other accidents of that type.

[ Back to Navy | Primary Sources Archive index ]

Military History

Forum Posts

Military Polls

[ Results | Polls ]

Votes: 237

This Day in History

1862: Admiral David Farragut captures New Orleans a day after his fleet successfully sailed past two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River.

1864: For the second time in a week, a Confederate force captures a Union wagon train trying to supply the Federal force at Camden, Arkansas.

1898: The United States declares war on Spain.

1915: Australian and New Zealand troops land at Gallipoli in Turkey.

1945: Eight Russian armies completely encircle Berlin, linking up with the U.S. First Army patrol, first on the western bank of the Elbe, then later at Torgau. Germany is, for all intents and purposes, Allied territory.

1952: After a three day fight against Chinese Communist Forces, the Gloucestershire Regiment is annihilated on "Gloucester Hill," in Korea.

1972: Hanois 320th Division drives 5,000 South Vietnamese troops into retreat and traps about 2,500 others in a border outpost northwest of Kontum in the Central Highlands.

More...

USS Missouri (BB-11) Turret Fire, 13 April 1904

Who was overall the most impressive Civil War General?