EARLY BENNINGTON - USS BENNINGTON

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USS BENNINGTON

EARLY BENNINGTON

Photo #: NH 82133

USS Bennington (PG-4) In San Francisco Bay, California, circa 1894-98.

Courtesy of Myles DeSomer, 1975.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

USS Bennington (PG 4) Officers and Crew Photo

USS Bennington, a 1700-ton gunboat of the Yorktown class, was built at Chester, Pennsylvania, and commissioned in June 1891. She initially served in the Atlantic and European areas, and was transferred to the Pacific in 1894. Her active service was ended by a deadly boiler explosion at San Diego, California, on 21 July 1905. Bennington was not repaired after this tragedy, and was sold in November 1910.

The total number of persons killed was 62, counting those killed outright and those that died within a short time. In addition, there were 14 who were seriously injured and 26 others who were injured less seriously. The ship's complement of men numbered 197, including officers and crew, so that it appears that more than half (namely, 102,) of the men were killed or injured. We shall not attempt to give any account whatever of the scenes of horror that prevailed upon the fated ship. Commander Young stated that not even the leper settlement at Molokai, in the Hawaiian Islands, could show anything so fearful.

LIST OF THOSE KILLED IN THE
USS BENNINGTON EXPLOSION OF 21 JULY 1905

California State Historic Landmark 55
#055 Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
A burial ground before 1847, this graveyard became an Army post cemetery in the 1860s. It is the final resting place for most who fell at San Pasqual in 1846, and for the U.S.S. Bennington victims of 1905. It became Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in 1934 and was placed under the Veterans Administration National Cemetery System in 1973. Over 50,000 who served the U.S. honorably in war and peace lie here.

Also visit the Web Site of the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery - Point Loma, San Diego County, California . You can find there Records of burials provided to this website by the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs, on July 2, 2000. This is not a complete list of burials, only those that are on file with the VA.
Click Here To See Some Pictures
of the USS Bennington Gunboat #4 Memorial

Navy Medal of Honor: Interim Period 1901-1910

These individuals earned the Navy Medal of Honor during the period
specified. Their names are followed by their rank and rate, if known,
the date of the action and the vessel or unit on which they served.

BOERS, EDWARD WILLIAM, Seaman, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, 21 July 1905
BROCK, GEORGE F., Carpenter's Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905
CLAUSEY, JOHN J., Chief Gunner's Mate, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, 21 July 1905
CRONAN, WILLIE, Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, 21 July 1905
FREDERICKSEN, EMIL, Watertender, U.S. Navy, USS Benington, San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905
GRBITCH, RADE, Seaman, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905
HILL, FRANK E., Ship's Cook First Class, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905
NELSON, OSCAR FREDERICK, Machinist's Mate First Class, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905
SCHMIDT, OTTO DILLER, Seaman, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905
SHACKLETTE, WILLIAM SIDNEY, Hospital Steward, U.S. Navy., USS Bennington, San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905
He died on February 12, 1945 and was buried in Section 10 of Arlington National Cemetery
SNYDER, WILLIAM E., Chief Electrician, U.S. Navy., USS Birmingham, 4 January 1910

Note:
The name of the medal is "Medal of Honor." It incorrectly is often referred to as the "Congressional" Medal of Honor. By law, it simply is "Medal of Honor." The Navy Medal of Honor is our nation's oldest continuously awarded decoration. It was established for enlisted men in 1861 and, until 1942, could be awarded for either combat and non-combat ("in the line of profession") heroism. Officers became eligible in 1915.

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USS Bennington (PG-4)after the blast.
Note the flag at half staff and the missing center mast.

It may be a little slow to load, but look at the detail of the BIG PICTURE.

100 YEARS LATER - IN MEMORY

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Monument 1908
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A Monumental Loss
by John Wilkens
Staff Writer,
San Diego Union-Tribune
(PDF File)

The Army's Role in the Aftermath of San Diego's Naval Disaster
By Karen Scanlon and Mary Ellen Cortellini
(PDF File)

The PDF reader is available from

as a free download.

Additional Available Information

Frank Matteson Bostick
Commodore, United States Navy

USS Bennington (Gunboat # 4), 1891-1910

The Boiler Explosion on the "USS Bennington"

DECORATIONS FOR VALOR AWARDED TO
HOSPITAL CORPSMEN

John Henry "Dick" Turpin
The Navy's First Black Chief Petty Officer
survived the boiler explosion
on USS Bennington in 1905

U.S.S. Bennington.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
[between 1891 and 1901]

NOTES
Date based on Detroit, Catalogue J (1901).
Detroit Publishing Co. no. 020143.
Gift; State Historical Society of Colorado; 1949.
SUBJECTS
Bennington (Gunboat #4)

The Bennington was authorized by Congress on March 3, 1887, and was built by N. F. Palmer & Company, of Chester, Pa., the successors of John Roach. Her keel was laid in June, 1888, and she was launched on June 3, 1890, and commissioned for the first time on June 20, 1891. She was classed as a gunboat, and her hull was constructed of steel, with a single bottom. Her displacement was 1,710 tons, and her main battery consisted of six 6-inch breech-loading rifles, an her secondary battery of four 6-pounders, four 1-pounder rapid-firing guns, and two 30-caliber Colt guns. The engines of the Bennington were horizontal, triple expansion, and operated two screws. The cylinders were 22, 31, and 50 inches in diameter, respectively, with a stroke Of 30 inches. The maximum indicated horse power developed was 3,392, and the estimated speed attained on the trial trip was 17.5 knots per hour. The total weight of her machinery was 282.65 tons, and her coal bunkers had a capacity of 391 tons, with a coal endurance (at a speed of ten knots per hour) or 4,262 knots.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN MEDAL

The USS BENNINGTON PG-4 received the Philippine Campaign Medal by Special Order #81 in June of 1908 for its service in the Philippine waters during the following time periods:

22 February 1899 - 5 July 1899

15 July 1899 - 5 April 1900

27 May 1900 - 3 January 1901

Note: The above information was provided in the U.S. Navy Awards Manual.

Joe Pires
USS BENNINGTON HISTORIAN

U.S.S. Bennington. CREATED/PUBLISHED
[between 1891 and 1901]

NOTES
Date based on Detroit, Catalogue J (1901).
Detroit Publishing Co. no. 020333.
Gift; State Historical Society of Colorado; 1949.
SUBJECTS
Bennington (Gunboat #4)

The Bennington had four cylindrical straight-way boilers, commonly known as locomotive gunboat boilers, each 17 ft. 9 in. long and 9 ft. 9 in. in diameter. Each of these boilers had three furnaces, with one combustion chamber, which was divided into three parts by a transverse arch of firebrick, and a longitudinal wall built on the crown of the arch and between the nests of tubes. There was a hanging bridge-wall in each of the divisions of the combustion chamber. Each combustion chamber was 45 inches deep (that is, lengthwise of the boiler), and 8 ft. 10 in. in extreme width. The main shell-plates of the boilers were 13/16 in. in thickness, the tube-sheets were 9/16 in. thick, and the front head was 3/4 in. thick.

The longitudinal joints of the shells were butted and double riveted, with straps inside and out, and the girth joints were lapped and double riveted. The rivets were 1 inch in diameter. Each boiler had fifteen fore-and-aft braces 2-1/4 in. in diameter. Each boiler had a heating surface of 2,053 sq. ft., a grate area of 55 sq. ft., a water surface of 149.5 sq. ft., a steam space of 328 cu. ft., and a free area through the tubes of 9.42 sq. ft. Each boiler weighed 26.68 tons when empty, and 41.66 tons when filled with water to the normal level.

SIDE NOTE

I though you might like this for your web site on the 1905 Explosion.

Source: Otago Witness 6 Sep 1905 p13

THE BENNINGTON DISASTER
A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY
A NEW ZEALANDER KILLED.

On the 21 July 1905 the US gunboat BENNINGTON suddenly exploded at around 10.30am while lying at anchor in the San Diego harbour.

Of the 47 that died and were buried at the cemetery on the crest of Mount Loman, one was Frank DE CURTONI, a native of Nelson, New Zealand.

He came to America around 1892, and took residence with his uncle J DE CURTONI, a grocer, around 1898.
He enlisted in the US Navy and was assigned to the YORKTOWN when that vessel was in the Phillipines.
He was afterwards transferred to the OREGON and upon his second enlistment three years ago he was detailed to the BENNINGTON.
Four sisters, Lillian and Elizabeth CURTONI, Mrs P HARDING and Mrs A BURTON, and two brothers, Edwin (residing in San Diego)
and Louis (Engineer on the transport LOGAN and formerly of the cruiser OLYMPIA) - survive him.
At the time of his death Mr De CURTONI was 29 years old.

Yours
Christine Clement
Te Puke (Kiwifruit Capital of the World)
New Zealand

GUNBOAT TO CARRIER
gunboat4

CARRIER AWARDS

AWARDED RIBBONS, MEDALS AND COMBAT STARS

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1 September 1999

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100 YEARS LATER - IN MEMORY

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