Dartmouth

Posted by Albert Parker on Tuesday 26th of November 2019 07:00

"Sunk in action" is an understatement--she blew up, with the loss of all but a lieutenant and a few hands. The surviving lieutenant was approached by the gunner, asking the whereabouts of the captain. When the lieutenant asked what was the matter, the gunner said, "Oh, Sir, the magazine ... **KABOOM!!** Probably, an accident in the light room, where lanterns were lit on the opposite side of a glass window from the filling room (where cartridges were filled from with loose powder), started a fire that the seaman detailed to tend the lanterns could not extinguish, and the gunner (whose normal station was in the filling room) was seeking the captain to inform him of that; but the flames reached the powder before he got that far.