Explosion Onboard The H.M.S. Triumph

The reason I posted up the following article is that Mary Kelly told her lover Barnett that her husband had been killed in an explosion just 2 years after they were married. There was a terrible explosion onboard a ship in November of 1881 and one of the men killed was a marine named "Davies." Could this also explain why Mary Jane Kelly had a portrait/picture entitled, "The Fisherman's Widow."

THE EXPLOSION ON BOARD H.M.S. "TRIUMPH."

The following official statement in reference to the explosion on board Her Majesty's ship Triumph was issued for public information at the Admiralty on Saturday: -

"With reference to the accident on board Her Majesty's ship Triumph from the explosion of xerotine siccative exploded, killing Davies (marine), Foxon (seaman), and injuring seven others." The friends of the deceased were immediately informed, and telegraphic orders went to all the stations that xerotine siccative was a dangerous explosive, and should be got rid of at once."

Source: The Echo, Monday January 16, 1882, Page 4

The further particulars that have come to light respecting the explosion on board the Triumph confirm the impression that the accident might have been avoided by the exercise of the commonest precautions. Although the Admiralty have issued orders that xerotine siccative is not to be used on board men-of-war; this order was not only disregarded on board the Triumph, but such little care was taken of the dangerous "patent dryer" that when the tin in which it was contained was searched for it was found to have been so much injured that the xerotine siccative had leaked out and spread on the floor. Of course when a light was brought near it there was an explosion, and it is fortunate that only three lives were lost, for further examination showed that the dryers had leaked down into the bilge and travelled slowly under the fore magazine. The accident seems to have so impressed the captain that he has ordered every drop of the dangerous fluid to be cleared out of the ship; but it is lamentable to think of the lives that have been lost owing to the culpable carelessness of those whose duty it was to see the Admiralty regulations carried out, and who, if they were determined to use these particular dryers, might at least have been expected to see that they were lodged in a place of safety, and properly protected.

Source: The Echo, Monday January 16, 1882

EXPLOSION ON BOARD H.M.S. TRIUMPH.
LOSS OF LIFE.

News has been received of a terrible explosion of xerotine siccative on board the flagship Triumph, which occurred on November 22 off Coquimbo, on the coast of Chile, resulting in the death of three men and injuries of a more or less serious nature to seven others. Xerotine Siccative, the substance which has thus been the cause of a serious accident, is commonly known as "patent driers," which are used in ironclads to prevent corrosion between the double bottoms.
From letters which have been received it appears that the disaster occurred at 8 in the morning, whilst the band on deck were playing "God Save the Queen" to the colours. According to one writer, the xerotine siccative was stowed under the paint-room directly contrary to the Admiralty instructions. A marine went there with a light, and he was literally blown to pieces. The beds in the "sick bay" outside the paint-room were wrenched out of the deck, and the men were thrown all over it. Another man who was killed was a gunner who stood 35 yards off, and died from concussion of the brain. A third man, also a gunner, likewise lost his life. Strange to say, the painter, who was actually inside the paint room, was only badly burnt.
One letter states that the explosion occurred just as the band had finished playing the National Anthem. The ship quivered from stem to stern, and was instantly enveloped in a cloud of smoke, out of which could be heard the shrieks of the injured men. The captain and other officers ran forward, and others whose official duties did not call them to the accident rushed to the poop, while all hands came pouring up on deck, the memory of the terrible explosion on board her Majesty's ship Doterel serving to intensify the alarm. Presently the smoke cleared off, and it was seen that the hull was not damaged; but as one after another the dead and wounded men were brought out, a sense of delivery from a fearful catastrophe mingled with horror at the scene and wonder at its cause. Fortunately, according to the Western Morning News, the survivors were able to place the origin of the explosion beyond doubt. Among the painters' stores was a can of xerotine siccative used as a drier. Its dangerous character was known, and special precautions for storing it had been taken. It was kept immediately below the paint store at the extreme forepart of the vessel, and was only accessible by a small hatch in the floor of the paint room. Having occasion to use the composition, the painter's mate and two gunners, providing themselves with bull's-eye lanterns, raised the hatchway and got out the tin. They immediately saw that it had been damaged, and that the liquid had spread over the floor. The spirit evaporating and mixing with the air, formed a highly explosive gas, which instantly rushed up the hatch, caught alight, and half-a-dozen men standing near were hurled down with great force, much burnt; the painter's mate and one of the gunners lived but a few minutes, and the other men received painful but not dangerous injuries. A gunner, named Legg, died next day, but of the remainder of the men all but one were considered out of danger. So far there have been three deaths and seven men injured. The day following the accident two of the men were buried with painful solemnity, and the following day Legg was also committed to the deep. If the explosion had occurred in a more vital or more inflammable part of the vessel the Triumph must have been destroyed. As it was the fire had nothing but iron to play upon, and was, of course, speedily extinguished.

Source: The Centaur

EXPLOSION ON BOARD H.M.S. "TRIUMPH."

THREE MEN KILLED AND SEVERAL INJURED.

A despatch was received at the Admiralty, yesterday, from Rear-Admiral Stirling, Commander-in-Chief on the Pacific Station, reporting an explosion of some xerotine siccative on board his flagship, the Triumph, which caused the death of William N. Foxon, able seaman; Thomas H. Davies, gunner, R.M.A.; and Charles Legg, gunner, R.M.A.; and wounded the following: viz., Frederick G. Pavett, private R.M.L.I, and John Smith, painter, progressing satisfactorily; Alfred Kite, stoker; George Tribe, assistant sick berth attendant; Thomas Butler, ordinary seaman; Jack G. Sturt, able seaman; and James Williamson, able seaman - slightly.
An officer on board Her Majesty's flagship Triumph state that the explosion occurred off Coquimbo, on the coast of Chile, on Tuesday, the 22nd of last November. The writer, who has escaped uninjured, gives the following account of the catastrophe: -
"We have had a terrible explosion of xerotine siccative on board here. It occurred on Tuesday last at eight o'clock in the morning." The letter bears date 27th November, so that it was written five days after the accident. "Two men," the writer states, "were killed on the spot, and a third died on the afternoon of the following Saturday, while more were terribly burnt. The material which exploded was stowed under the paint room, directly contrary to the Admiralty instructions. It appears that a man went there with a light, and he was literally blown to pieces. The hooks in the "sick bay" outside the paint room were wrenched out of the deck, and the men were thrown all over it. As I have said, one man was blown all to pieces, and the second who was killed was 35 yards off, his death resulting from concussion of the brain. The man who died yesterday (Saturday) afternoon sustained frightful injuries. His thighs and abdomen were almost blown away, and he was a terrible sight. Strange to say, the painter, who was actually inside the paint room, was only badly burnt. There is at the time I am writing only one dangerous case among the injured, that of a stoker, who is suffering from severe internal injuries and concussion of the spine. At the time of the explosion I was walking up and down on deck, and the band was playing "God save the Queen" to the colours. It gave us all a terrible fright. The exploded material had got into the double-bottom, and it was only yesterday that anyone could get near it, owing to the gas which emanated from it."
The substance which has thus been the cause of a serious accident is commonly known as "patent driers," which are used in ironclads to prevent corrosion between the double-bottoms.

Source: The Echo, Saturday January 14, 1882, Page 4

News has just been received of an explosion which occurred so long ago as November 26 on board H.M.S. Triumph, by which two men were killed and several others injured. The accident was due to a gas generated from the "xerotine siccative," or patent driers, used for preventing corrosion on the double bottoms of men-of-war. The intelligence was known to the Admiralty two months ago, and an order was given to every ship in commission that the use of the compound should be discontinued, and the stock of it to be thrown overboard or returned to store.

Source: The Colonies And India, January 20, 1882, Page 4

THE EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE "TRIUMPH."

The secretary of the Admiralty presents his compliments to the Editor of the The Echo, and begs to inform him that Rear-Admiral Stirling, Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's ships and vessels on the Pacific Station, in a letter dated 5th December, 1881, on board H.M.S. Triumph, at Coquimbo, reports "that the seven men injured by the explosion on board the Triumph are progressing favourably. Two of them have been sent to the sick quarters at Valparaiso."

Source: The Echo, Saturday January 21, 1882, Page 3

There seems to be little doubt that the loss of H.M.S. Doterel in April last was occasioned by an explosion of the same substance which was the cause of the recent fatal accident on board the Triumph - xerotine siccative or "patent driers." As in the case of poisons, which it seems are so easily procurable nowadays, some special and effective precautions ought to be adopted to guard against the misuse of explosives, which, whether in the hands of Nihilists or Fenians, or innocently used for various industrial purposes, are productive of such serious results.

Source: The Colonies And India, Friday January 27, 1882

A dispatch received at the Admiralty states that an explosion has occurred on board the flagship Triumph, on the Pacific station, by which three men were killed and seven wounded. From the additional particulars which have reached us it appears that the substance which caused the accident is commonly known as "patent driers," and is used on board ironclads to prevent corrosion. One man was blown to pieces, and another, 35 yards off, died from concussion of the brain.

Source: Australian And New Zealand Gazette, January 21, 1882, Page 18