BURSTING OF A GUN ON BOARD H.M.S. CORDELIA

Temuka Leader, Issue 2225, 9 July 1891, Page 1

BURSTING OF A GUN ON BOARD H.M.S. CORDELIA

SAD LOSS OF LIFE. Sydney, July 4. H.M.S. Coroelia, which has been crusing in Fijian waters with Sir J. B. Thurston, returned to port this afternoon. Captain Grenfell states that he was standing on the port side, watching the men engaged at the guns when an explosion took place. The air was filled with fragments of metal and pieces of the shattered gun went as high as the fore-top-lift and royal sheet. Pieces of iron tore through the funnel and damaged the gear. Nearly every part of the outside trunnions went overboard. The right trunnion went forward and the left aft, striking the poop and falling on the quarterdeck. The explosion burst through the upper deck, and what is known as the left bracket of the gun carriage was blown down on the main deck, severely injuring two men. Two officers and four men were killed, besides many injured. In some cases the poor fellows were blown to pieces. Those killed are Lieutenants Hillyar and Gordon, Gunners Langford and Darwell, Seaman Hill, and the ship boy Brown. The gun which burst was a 6-inch breech-loading Armstrong, and from the manner in which it was broken into small pieces, like cast iron or glass, gives the idea as if it had burst by an enormous charge of some nitrous compound. Lieutenant Hillyar, who was standing to the right of the gun, was struck by a block of iron and killed instantaneously, Lieutenant Gordon, who was nearer the gun,lived for a few minutes after the accident. The accident has created a painful sensation here. The gun had only been used for two hundred rounds, and it was guaranteed for two thousand. The explosion cannot in any way be accounted for. A report of the accident and the remains of the will be sent Home, where a naval enquiry will be held. The appearance of the Cordelia’s upper deck is almost such as it would be after a sharp engagement. The top-gallant bulwark was broken and battered, and everywhere great dents are to be seen. The machinery was so choked with fragments of glass and iron that work was at a standstill for some time after the explosign.