3-077-677 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

H.M.S. Barracouta, on board which the disastrous steam explosion happened off Margate, 1890. 'A singular and terrible disaster with the steam-boiler of this new ship, which was making her trials of steaming at sea outside the entrance to the Thames, and in the channel near the Maplin Sands, happened on Friday, Feb. 7...All went well until a quarter to nine in the morning, when a shocking accident occurred in the port stokehole. Flames issued in great volume from the furnaces, inflicting dreadful burns on the men, who could not retreat into the engine-rooms. The boilers at the time were working at a pressure of 150 lb., and a half-inch of air pressure was used with the fan engines. It is supposed that the outburst of fire was due to the sudden expansion and contraction of the tube plates, which caused an escape of water and steam into the firebox, forcing the flames out of the furnaces into the stokehole. Ten men were injured, three being in the employ of the contractors, three dockyard men, and four sailors belonging to the Royal Navy. One of these poor fellows, Henry Ovenden, a stoker, died at the Royal Naval Barracks, Sheerness, after suffering many hours. An inquest was opened on the next Monday. The other men were likely to recover'. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.