Fischer Anchor Bolt Singapore

[Curtis Cassel]

Note: Data are based on incomplete and sometimes conflicting sources. Official US Navy sources have been used when they are available in the collection of the Navy Department Library. The date provided at the end of each entry is the date of the accident/incident, rather than the date of death of individuals who may have died subsequently to the event.

Continental sloop Saratoga lost with all hands in a gale off the Bahamas. The only survivors were detailed to a captured vessel which almost capsized in the same storm. Crew of 86 less the prize crew drowned. 18 March 1781.

Ketch Intrepid, fitted out as an "infernal" or fire ship, blown up in premature detonation of powder charges during blockade of Tripoli. 12 killed, including Capt. Richard Somers. 4 September 1804.

An explosion during an ordnance experiment at the Washington Navy Yard killed two workers. For safety purposes, the laboratory and powder magazine are then moved to separate locations. 7 September 1841.

Screw Steamer USS Princeton 12-inch shell gun explodes in ordnance accident. Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer; Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur; Capt. Beverly Kennon, Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repairs; Rep. Virgil Maxey of Maryland; Rep. David Gardiner of New York; and a servant of the President killed. Approximately 20 individuals injured. 29 February 1844.

Bark USS Fredonia destroyed and sidewheel gunboat Wateree driven ashore by tidal waves at Arica, Peru. [Wateree later served as living spaces ashore, then as an inn. Despite more tidal waves in later years, the intact hulk of Wateree, with donkeys tied to it, was spotted on the beach as late as 1879.] 27 killed. 15 August 1868.

Merchant ship SS Colima wrecked in storm near Manzanillo, Mexico. Coal Passer John W. Crew, Yeoman Gustave Adolph Mewis, Apprentice 1 class John Henry W. Smith and Coxswain Carl Walske drowned. 28 May 1895.

Gunboat USS Helena Ordinary Seaman Axel Johansson, while serving on prize crew aboard a Spanish ship, accidentally shot and killed when his revolver fell from its holster and discharged. 25 April 1898.

Steam launch from USS Yosemite foundered in the harbor of San Luis d'Apra, Guam in typhoon. Coal Passer Joseph Anderson, Seaman George Aubel, Fireman 1 class William Davis, Apprentice 1 class Jacob L. Mehaffey and Coxswain Frank Swanson drowned. 13 November 1900.

Protected cruiser USS Boston steam accident during the repair of the safety valve on boiler H. Machinist 2 class Edward Lee Baker died on way to the Naval Hospital, Mare Island CA. 29 January 1903.

Torpedo Boat No. 26 USS Biddle steam accident. The bursting of the boiler tube in the fire-room during a full power trial resulted in the death of George Dare Wamer who died on board the USS Franklin the day after the accident. 24 June 1904.

Merchant ship SS Valencia wrecked on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Five personnel on leave were drowned: Ordinary Seaman John Finley, Coal Passer Harman Fisher, Ordinary Seaman Clyde William Knight, Ordinary Seaman Charles Uhler and Coal Passer John Sidney Widmer. 23 January 1906.

Battleship No. 22 USS Minnesota steam accident while cruising with the Great White Fleet. Fireman 2 class John Henry Clear scalded. He died five days later at the Naval Hospital, Canacao, Philippines. 9 November 1908.

Battleship No. 29 USS North Dakota steam accident caused by ignition of fuel oil settling tank over Boiler #1. Coal Passers Joseph William Schmidt, Joseph Streit and Robert Gilmore died. 8 September 1910.

Destroyer No. 34 USS Walke port main turbine split wide open. Lieutenant D. P. Morrison, Chief Gunners Mate Elbridge Belknap Crawford, Fireman 1 class Thomas Joseph Delaney, and Machinist Mates 1 class John William Rumpf and Harry Lee Wilder died. 1 October 1912.

Battleship No. 7 USS Illinois ammunition handling accident causes a 13-inch shell to slip through hoist sling, strike the edge of gun deck hatch, and fall into berth deck, killing Ordinary Seaman Harold E. Thompson. 28 October 1912.

Battleship No. 14 USS Nebraska Dynamo room steam valve blew off striking Ordinary Seaman Charles Agena and throwing him ten feet. He died later that night at the Naval Hospital in Chelsea MA. 15 July 1913.

Torpedo Boat Destroyer No. 10 USS Craven boiler explosion. Fireman 1 class Thomas W. Gabbitt and Water Tenders William Oscar Milton, John William McCaffrey and James Charles Dalton killed. 10 September 1913.

Protected cruiser USS Boston Coxswain Vernon D. Dunnell, while serving on the Oregon Naval Militia training ship, seriously injured by premature explosion of a six-pound saluting charge. 4 July 1916.

Battleship No. 37 USS Oklahoma Electrician 1 class Henry G. Kennedy, while decapping primer from empty shell cases, killed by a charge accidentally mixed in with the empty cases. 15 January 1917.

Naval Air Station, Pensacola FL. Engine in motor dory exploded causing the boat to catch fire. To avoid being burned, Apprentice Seaman Andrew Jackson Gash jumped overboard and drowned. 22 September 1917.

The crew of auxiliary cruiser Von Steuben, while returning to Norfolk from Brest, fired upon a piece of flotsam--suspecting it to be a German U-boat. A premature explosion of a shell from #2 5-inch gun killed Mess Attendant 3d Class Ercell W. Martin, Fireman 3d class Valentine Przybylski, and Seaman 2 class Emmette J. Shields during this action. 5 March 1918.

Battleship No. 8 USS Alabama boiler accident scalded Fireman 3 class Robert Florance McCarthy who died two hours later on USS Solace. To avoid being scalded, Fireman 1 class Henry Leonhardt Schmidt jumped overboard and drowned. 15 March 1918.

Transport USS Orizaba suffered accidental explosion of 50-lb depth charge, killing Lt. Cdr. William P. Williamson instantly. Seaman 2 class Arthur K. Baird, Oiler Samuel T. Lambert, and Baker 2 class Frank Joseph Mayer died later from injuries. 17 August 1918.

During routine gunnery practice, Battleship No. 40 New Mexico Seaman Alfred Austin Byxbee was crushed to death between #1 14-inch turret and the shell stowage area within the turret structure. 4 September 1918.

Destroyer No. 119 USS Lamberton steam hose burst in the fireroom injuring Fireman 1 class William Thomas Batstone who died 11 October 1918 at the Naval Hospital, New York NY. 29 September 1918.

Iron-hulled, twin-screw coastal defense monitor USS Amphitrite steam accident burned Fireman 2 class Albert Francis Moran who died in Methodist Episcopal Hospital, Brooklyn NY on 5 November 1918. 3 October 1918.

Minesweeper USS Richard Bulkeley sank during minesweeping operations in the North Sea when sweeping gear caught a mine which then exploded. Commander Frank R. King, Engineman 1 class Floyd Harman, Seaman John V. Mallon, Seaman 2 class Homer Perdue, Ship's Cook 1 class Antino Perfidio, Fireman 2 class George P. Rezab and Fireman 1 class George M. Sowers drowned. 12 July 1919.

Destroyer USS J. Fred Talbott Seaman Neils Christian Hansen, on a sight-seeing tour of the Montfaucon battlefield near Verdun, was killed by accidental explosion of a grenade found in the area. 9 August 1919.

Chief Gunner's Mate Rudolph Hersey Wiggin, while working at the Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island, was killed in a freak accident when a loose wing nut was blown out of the compressed air charging valve bushing of a Mark VIII torpedo. 13 June 1921.

While acting as bowman on a motorboat during torpedo firing practice in San Pedro Bay, Calif., Seaman 2 class Johnie Burns Robinson was knocked overboard and drowned after the motorboat accidently hit by a practice torpedo. 4 February 1922.

USS Tacoma (C-18) ran aground near Vera Cruz Mexico during a storm. During attempts to free her during the subsequent week Captain Herbert G. Sparrow, Radioman 2 class Edward Thaxter Herrick, Radioman 1 class Homer Harry Lussier and Radioman 3 class Solomon Sivin drowned. 16 January 1924.

Fire and explosions resulting from lightning strikes during an electrical storm resulted in an ordnance disaster at the Naval Ammunition Depot, Dover [Lake Denmark], New Jersey, killed Lt. Comdr. Edward Allen Brown, Lt. Herman Conrad Schrader, Chief Gunner Joseph Mathias Gately, and Pharmacist's Mate Harry Christian Brown. Twelve marines, an Army officer, and two civilians were also killed, and 39 others injured. 10-16 July 1926.

Aviation Carpenter's Mate 3 class Robert Harold Edsall and Apprentice Seaman Nigel Merton Henton both fell 150-300 feet to their deaths after being carried aloft by toggle lines of rigid airship USS Akron (ZRS-4) during a mooring attempt at the Lighter-than-Air Field, Camp Kearny, Calif. 11 May 1932.

Aviation Machinist's Mate 1 class Henry John Allen and Photographer 1 class Eugene Anthony Auger both killed in surface collision between their Martin PM-2 two-engined seaplane and the US Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa off San Diego. 28 July 1932.

Seaman 1 class Charles Bugonian, Aviation Ordnanceman 1 class Daniel Roy Glaze, Chief Radioman Walter Franklin Manthorne, and Aviation Pilot 1 class John Henry Schnitzlein killed when their P2D crashed in the mouth of the Folks River, Coco Solo, Canal Zone. 1 September 1932.

Aviation Metalsmith 1 class Thomas Allen Daniels killed, and Chief Aviation Pilot Garland L. Williams injured, by accidental explosion of a projectile at the Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Virginia. 9 May 1933.

While operating out of the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Va., an O2C-2 land plane caught fire and crashed following a gas line rupture, killing Aviation Machinist's Mate 1 class Edward Martin McHugh. 14 July 1933.

After his patrol plane hit a violent down draft of air while flying off Pearl Harbor, Aviation Chief Machinist's Mate Stanley John Jaros was thrown from his seat into the left propeller, killing him instantly. 14 July 1933.

c80f0f1006