DaveBrt
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2010
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
Savannah Morning News, May 28, 1863
"Destruction of the Sloop-of-War Preble
A New Orleans correspondent of the New York Herald furnishes the following particulars of the destruction of the sloop-of-war Preble:
A gang of men were working in the hold, emptying a barrel of tar into the tanks used for that purpose, when, from some unknown cause, it took fire, and the barrel exploded, throwing the burning oil in every direction. It was impossible to extinguish the flames; they spread with great rapidity, so quickly, indeed, that the officers and crew had to abandon the vessel with nothing but the clothing they had on. In one hour only the flames reached the magazine, which blew up with an awful explosion, tearing the vessel into a thousand pieces, and scattering the fragments all over the bay of Pensacola. At the time the accident occurred the Preble was anchored between the Navy Yard and the city of Pensacola, fortunately in a position where her guns going off, which they did when they became heated, could do no damage. But one life was lost on the occasion."
Commissioned in 1840; 16 guns.
"Destruction of the Sloop-of-War Preble
A New Orleans correspondent of the New York Herald furnishes the following particulars of the destruction of the sloop-of-war Preble:
A gang of men were working in the hold, emptying a barrel of tar into the tanks used for that purpose, when, from some unknown cause, it took fire, and the barrel exploded, throwing the burning oil in every direction. It was impossible to extinguish the flames; they spread with great rapidity, so quickly, indeed, that the officers and crew had to abandon the vessel with nothing but the clothing they had on. In one hour only the flames reached the magazine, which blew up with an awful explosion, tearing the vessel into a thousand pieces, and scattering the fragments all over the bay of Pensacola. At the time the accident occurred the Preble was anchored between the Navy Yard and the city of Pensacola, fortunately in a position where her guns going off, which they did when they became heated, could do no damage. But one life was lost on the occasion."
Commissioned in 1840; 16 guns.
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