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Title: Naval Interest. - Thunderer Committee. Minutes of the Proceedings, 24th January to 13th February 1879, Together with the Appendix. London: George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1879. Folio, 22 Folding Plates, Original Blue Illustrated Wrappers.
Description: HMSO, 1879. Soft Cover. 44p in the original blue book wrapper. The official report of the serious accident which occurred on board H.M.S.Thunderer on 2 January 1879, when the left 12-inch 38 ton gun in the forward turret exploded during gunnery practice in the Sea of Marmora, killing 11 and injuring a further 35. The muzzle-loading gun had been double-loaded following a misfire. According to Admiral of the Fleet E.H Seymour, Both turret guns were being fired simultaneously, and evidently one did not go off. It may seem hard to believe such a thing could happen and not be noticed, but from my own experience I understand it. The men in the turret often stopped their ears, and perhaps their eyes, at the moment of firing, and then instantly worked the run-in levers, and did not notice how much the guns had recoiled. This no doubt occurred. Both guns were at once reloaded, and the rammer's indicator, working by machinery, set fast and failed to show how far the new charge had gone. The accident contributed to the Royal Navy changing to breech-loading guns, which could be more conveniently worked from inside the turrets. The fragments of the destroyed gun were re-assembled and displayed to the public at the Woolwich Arsenal. The committee of inquiry decided that the gun had been double-loaded, but this view was widely questioned, including by Sir William Palliser, designer of the Palliser shell used by these guns. Palliser's view instead was that the shot had been obstructed by a portion of the millboard disc rammed above the shell. The report is complete with the 22 folding plates- some coloured. The text block is clean and without marks though a little toned. The edges if a few of the plates are brittle. Blind tears on the front wrapper have been repaired with archival tape. A few discreet librart stamps on front wrapper ad there is wear tp the conersStill VG for a delicate item. See scans and email for more. . Very Good

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